Cornus amomum
Common name: 
Silky Dogwood
Pronunciation: 
KOR-nus a-MO-mum
Family: 
Cornaceae
Genus: 
Cornus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf, deciduous, multistemmed shrub, 6-10 ft (1.8-3 m) tall, with a similar spread, rounded, open when mature.  Stems purplish with appressed pubescence on younger branches.  Leaves simple, opposite, 5-10 cm long and 2.5-5.5 cm wide, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, tip pointed, base rounded, margin entire, medium to dark green above, somewhat whitish below, white or brown pubescence on lower veins.  Fall color may be green, brown to purplish-red.  Flowers yellowish white, borne in flat-topped clusters (cymes), 4-6 cm across.   Fruit blue, but may fade to white in the sun, about 6 mm diam., ripens in late summer; reportedly a favorite of some bird species.
  • Sun to part shade
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 4          Native range from Massachusetts to Georgia and west into New York and Tennessee
  • amomum: an Indian spice plant
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: south side of Bloss dorm (2011).
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  • flower cluster

    flower cluster

  • leaves and developing fruit clusters

    leaves and developing fruit clusters

  • developing fruit

    developing fruit

  • plant habit, fruiting

    plant habit, fruiting

  • leaves and fruit

    leaves and fruit

  • leafy shoot

    leafy shoot

  • leaf

    leaf

  • fruit cluster

    fruit cluster

  • fruit cluster, fruit and seed

    fruit cluster, fruit and seed

  • plant habit, late fall

    plant habit, fall late

  • leaves and fruit, late fall

    leaves and fruit, late fall

  • plant habit, winter

    plant habit, winter

  • winter twig and buds

    winter twig and buds