Common Name: Smooth Dogwood

General Information

Cornus glabrata is a deciduous shrub producing a cluster of stems up to 3 metres tall. The stems only form branches when growing at the edge of the cluster. Stems can be decumbent or trailing, often rooting at the nodes[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of materials for basket making. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Western N. America - Oregon, California

Habitat

Stream banks, roadsides, fields, meadows; at elevations from 50 - 1,500 metres[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Shrub
Height	2.50 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Cornus glabrata is a moderately cold-hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to around -20°c when dormant
Succeeds in full sun or light shade[[]. An easily grown plant, it succeeds in any soil of good or moderate fertility[], ranging from acid to shallow chalk[]. Grows well in heavy clay soils.
Plants commence flowering when stems are around 100cm tall[].
Cornus glabrata, which ranges from southern Oregon through most of transmontane California, grows in two distinct habits:-
Along streams and in moist areas, the branches are trailing, often vine-like, and rooting at the nodes. This growth habit is usually found in cultivated plants[].
A second form is found in drier roadsides and fields, where the stems are erect or grow horizontally, rooting at the nodes and forming dense thickets. This growth pattern is accompanied by smaller, thicker leaves and erect branches[].
There is no doubt that these two forms comprise a single species, because a single clone has been observed growing on a stream bank, with half the clone growing erect, with small leaves, and half trailing into the stream bed, with large leaves[].

Edible Uses

The globose or subglobose fruit is blue, bleaching white in direct sun; it is 6 - 9mm in diameter, its thin flesh enclosing a single, large seed[]. We have seen no report that the fruit of this species is edible.

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The long, straight stems are used in basket making[].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame or in an outdoors seedbed if there is sufficient seed[, ]. The seed must be separated from the fruit flesh since this contains germination inhibitors[, ]. Stored seed should be cold stratified for 3 - 4 months and sown as early as possible in the year[]. Scarification may also help as may a period of warm stratification before the cold stratification[, ]. Germination, especially of stored seed, can be very slow, taking 18 months or more[]. Prick out the seedlings of cold-frame sown seeds into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow the plants on for their first winter in a greenhouse, planting out in the spring after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe side shoots, mid summer in a frame[].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, taken with a heel if possible, autumn in a cold frame. High percentage[].
Layering of new growth in early summer/July. Takes 9 months[].