Index / Search / Cornus racemosa

§1 Plant

Cornus racemosa Lam.

vernacular gray dogwood — species · Cornaceae


USDA
CORA6
GBIF
3082264
Rank
species
gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa)
Platephotograph · Dan MullenCC BY-NC-ND source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Cornaceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus
Cornus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 2 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 2 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
Medium
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-47 °F minimum
Frost-free days
130 min.
Precipitation
24–60 in/yr
pH range
4.8–7.4
Root depth
16 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
10 ft
Height @ 20 y
6 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
13,000
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 2 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/CORA6 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/3082264 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

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