Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Cornales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Swida alternifolia
FAMILY
Cornaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Alternate-leaf Dogwood at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cornus alternifolia
FAMILY
Cornaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cornus alternifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 12 (2016)
Cornus alternifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH New England Wildflower Society’s Flora Novae Angliae (Haines, 2011)
Swida alternifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Cornus alternifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 142-01-002:
Cornus alternifolia FAMILY Cornaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Svida alternifolia
COMMON NAME:
Alternate-leaf Dogwood, Pagoda Dogwood, Pagoda Cornel
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_821
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_coal2_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm100314_113
March Decatur County GA
)
JK Marlow jkm120424_661
April Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Bark dark reddish-brown, smooth at first, becoming furrowed, slightly scaly, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm150423_626
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm160421_319
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A small tree with distinctive horizontal branching, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm160421_362
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm200418_3955
April Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
Sam Pratt sbp_20140428_120725
April Spartanburg County SC
)
Sam Pratt sbp_20140428_120748
April Spartanburg County SC
Flowers ~ 1/4" wide, in flat-topped showy clusters at end of leafy twigs, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm060508_044
May Macon County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District
Leaves alternate, clustered at ends of twigs, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cornus_alternifolia
May
)
JK Marlow jkm090706_013
July Mitchell County NC
Hedgerow
)
JK Marlow jkm090706_019
July Mitchell County NC
Hedgerow
Fruit a small blue-black drupe borne in red-stemmed terminal clusters, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm090706_021
July Mitchell County NC
Hedgerow
Leaf venation is arcuate, with main veins curving to follow blade margin, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm090706_034
July Mitchell County NC
Hedgerow
Leaves are pale beneath and have long petioles, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm180728_3567
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Petioles to 2.5" long [alternate arrangement easier to see from underneath], per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_alternifolia_3
July Towns-Union Counties GA
Brasstown Bald
)
JK Marlow s050927_a
September Greenville County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Swida alternifolia
FAMILY
Cornaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cornus alternifolia
FAMILY
Cornaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cornus alternifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 12
Cornus alternifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
New England Wildflower Society’s Flora Novae Angliae (Haines, 2011)
Swida alternifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Cornus alternifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 142-01-002:
Cornus alternifolia
FAMILY
Cornaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Svida alternifolia
382
Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Habitat: Mesic to dry-mesic forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains, rare elsewhere
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
4-merous
Inferior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Blue
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p286
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p042
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p208
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p090
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p015
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p100
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p110
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p166
- The Sibley Guide to Trees (Sibley, 2009) p355
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p256
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p30
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p279
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p112
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