| Cornus sericea | |
|---|---|
| Red Osier Dogwood bearing fruit | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Cornales |
| Family: | Cornaceae |
| Genus: | Cornus |
| Subgenus: | Swida |
| Species: | C. sericea |
| Binomial name | |
| Cornus sericea L. |
|
The Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea, syn. C. stolonifera, Swida sericea) is a species of dogwood native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to Durango and Nuevo León in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east. Other names include Red Willow[1][2][3], Kinnikinnick[3], Redstem Dogwood[1][3], Redtwig Dogwood, Red-rood, American Dogwood[1], Creek Dogwood, and (subsp. occidentalis) Western Dogwood[1].
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In the wild, it commonly grows in areas of damp soil, such as wetlands. It is a medium to tall deciduous shrub, growing 1.5–4 m tall and 3–5 m wide, spreading readily by underground stolons to form dense thickets. The branches and twigs are dark red, although wild plants may lack this coloration in shaded areas. The leaves are opposite, 5–12 cm long and 2.5–6 cm broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin; they are dark green above and glaucous below; fall color is commonly bright red to purple. The flowers are small (5–10 mm diameter), dull white, in clusters 3–6 cm diameter. The fruit is a globose white berry 5–9 mm diameter.
Cornus sericea is a popular ornamental shrub that is often planted for the red coloring of its twigs in the dormant season.
Native Americans used the berries as food, both fresh, dried and cooked.[4]
Some Plateau Indian tribes ate the berries to treat colds and slow bleeding.[4][5]
Known as cansasa in Lakota, the inner bark of the red osier dogwood was also used by the Lakota and other Native Americans as "traditional tobacco", either by itself or in a mixture with other plant materials.[6][7] Among the Algonquian peoples such as the Ojibwe, the smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick, blended the inner bark with tobacco[2], while more western tribes added it to the bearberry leaf to improve the taste.[4][8]
The Ojibwe used Red Osier Dogwood bark as a dye by taking the inner bark, mixing it with other plants or minerals.[1]
It is a variable species, with two subspecies commonly accepted: