Cornus nuttallii

Pacific dogwood
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Cornales
Family: Cornaceae
Genus: Cornus
Subgenus: Cynoxylon
Species: C. nuttallii
Binomial name
Cornus nuttallii
Audubon ex Torr. & A.Gray
Natural range
Synonyms

Benthamidia nuttallii (Audubon ex Torr. & A.Gray) Moldenke

Cornus nuttallii (Pacific dogwood,[1][2] mountain dogwood,[2] Western dogwood, or California dogwood) is a species of dogwood native to western North America from the lowlands of southern British Columbia to the mountains of southern California, with an inland population in central Idaho. Cultivated examples are found as far north as Haida Gwaii. It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree, reaching 10–25 m tall.

The small flowers are in a dense cluster surrounded by large white bracts

The leaves are opposite, simple, oval, 8–12 cm long, and 5–8 cm broad. The flowers are individually small and inconspicuous, 2–3 mm across, produced in a dense, rounded, greenish-white flowerhead 2 cm diameter; the 4-8 large white "petals" are actually bracts, each bract 4–7 cm long and broad. The fruit is a compound pink-red berry about 3 cm diameter, containing 50-100 small seeds; it is edible, though not very palatable.

Like the related Cornus florida, it is very susceptible to dogwood anthracnose, a disease caused by the fungus Discula destructiva. This has killed many of the larger plants in the wild and also restricted its use as an ornamental tree.

Cornus nuttallii is named after Thomas Nuttall, an English botanist and zoologist who worked in North America in the nineteenth century.

Some Plateau Indian tribes used the bark as a laxative and emetic.[3]

Government usage

It is the provincial flower of British Columbia.[4] It was once protected by law in the province (in an act which also protected Rhododendron macrophyllum and Trillium ovatum),[5] but this was repealed in 2002.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Cornus nuttallii". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Cornus nuttallii". Calflora. The Calflora Database. 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 353. ISBN 0-295-97119-3.
  4. ↑ "Provincial Symbols and Honours Act". Queen's Printer British Columbia. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  5. ↑ "Dogwood, Rhododendron and Trillium Protection Act". Queen's Printer British Columbia. Archived from the original on 2002-01-02. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  6. ↑ "Dogwood, Rhododendron and Trillium Protection Act". Queen's Printer British Columbia. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
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