Common Name:

General Information

Cornus foemina is a deciduous shrub producing a cluster of stems up to 8 metres tall[]. Stems are around 10cm in diameter[]. The plant does not have rhizomes[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Southeastern N. Anerica - Illinois to New Jersey, south to Texas and Florida

Habitat

Marshes, swamps, river and stream banks, pocosin margins, interdune swales, wet ditches; at elevations up to 1,500 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Deciduous Shrub
Height	5.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Cornus foemina is not a very cold-hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to around -8°c when dormant[].
Succeeds in ful sun and also in partial shade[]. Tolerant of many soil types, it requires a moist soil and will also succeed in wetter conditions[]. Tolerant of poor soils[].
The plant starts flowering when around 150cm tall[].

Edible Uses

The globose or oblate-ellipsoid fruit is pale blue, violet plumbeous, or blue violet in colour, often turning whitish blue to white; it is 5 - 6mm long and 6 - 10mm wide, the thin layer of flesh enclosing a single, large seed[]. We have seen no reports saying that it is edible.

Medicinal

A decoction of the root or bark scrapings is used as a treatment for fevers, including malaria[].

An infusion (part not specified) is used to treat lost voice[].

Other Uses

None known

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[].