Cornus amomum Mill.

vernacular silky dogwood — species · Cornaceae

USDA: COAM2
GBIF: 3082227
Rank: species

silky dogwood (Cornus amomum) — Platephotograph · AnitaCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Cornaceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus: Cornus

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 5 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 5 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: High
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: Medium

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -38 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 110 min.
Precipitation: 36–60 in/yr
pH range: 5–7
Root depth: 16 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Stoloniferous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 10 ft
Height @ 20 y: 7 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Green
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 12,200
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 5 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/COAM2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3082227 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z