Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
Key to families | Table of families and genera
Previous taxon Index to accepted names and synonyms:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Next taxon


Cornus sessilis


Higher Taxonomy
Family: CornaceaeView Description 
Common Name: DOGWOOD FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb to tree; sometimes dioecious. Leaf: generally opposite, simple, generally entire, generally deciduous, veins often arched; stipules 0. Inflorescence: cyme or raceme, generally umbel- or head-like, subtended by showy or +- non-showy bracts or open, not subtended by bracts. Flower: generally small, generally bisexual; calyx generally 4-lobed; petals [0]4[(5)], free; stamens generally as many as, alternate petals; ovary inferior, chambers 1--4, 1-ovuled, style simple, stigma lobes 0[2--4]. Fruit: drupe [berry]. Seed: generally 1--2.
Genera In Family: +- 12 genera, +- 100 species: especially northern temperate (also southern tropics, subtrop); cultivated as ornamental (Cornus, Aucuba); some timber species.
eFlora Treatment Author: James R. Shevock
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: CornusView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: DOGWOOD
Leaf: generally opposite or whorled; base, tip generally tapered. Inflorescence: head-like cyme subtended by showy bracts, open cyme not subtended by bracts, or umbel subtended by non-showy bracts. Fruit: stone 1--2-chambered.
Etymology: (Latin: horn, from the hard wood) Note: Divided by some into 6 or more genera.
Reference: Murrell 1993 Syst Bot 18:469--495; Wahlsteen et al. 2021 J Syst Evol 59: 405--416
Cornus sessilis Torr.
NATIVE
Habit: Shrub, small tree, < 5 m; herbage subglabrous. Stem: gray or yellow-brown. Leaf: blade 4.5--9 cm, generally obovate to elliptic, strigose abaxially (vein axils +- tomentose); petiole 5--10 mm. Inflorescence: umbel-like, sessile, few- to several-flowered; bracts 4, +- 1 cm, +- not showy, +- brown, generally with yellow margins, ephemeral; pedicel +- 1 cm, soft-white-hairy. Flower: +- yellow; sepals 0.5 mm; petals 3 mm; style 1 mm. Fruit: 1--1.5 cm, elliptic, green-white, then yellow, then red, then shiny purple-black.
Ecology: Streambanks; Elevation: < 1550 m. Bioregional Distribution: NW, CaR, n SN. Flowering Time: Mar--Apr
Jepson eFlora Author: James R. Shevock
Reference: Murrell 1993 Syst Bot 18:469--495; Wahlsteen et al. 2021 J Syst Evol 59: 405--416
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Cornus sericea subsp. sericea
Next taxon: Cornus unalaschkensis

Name Search

Please use this Google Form for Contact/Feedback

Citation for this treatment: James R. Shevock 2012, Cornus sessilis, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=20410, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Cornus sessilis
click for enlargement
©2004 Julie Kierstead Nelson
Cornus sessilis
click for enlargement
©2009 Julie Kierstead Nelson
Cornus sessilis
click for enlargement
©2014 Julie Kierstead Nelson
Cornus sessilis
click for enlargement
©2014 Julie Kierstead Nelson
Cornus sessilis
click for enlargement
©2016 Julie Kierstead Nelson

More photos of Cornus sessilis
in CalPhotos



Geographic subdivisions for Cornus sessilis:
NW, CaR, n SN.
MAP CONTROLS
1. You can change the display of the base map layer control box in the upper right-hand corner.
2. County and Jepson Region polygons can be turned off and on using the check boxes.
map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
MAP LEGEND
View all CCH records
All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
READ ABOUT YELLOW FLAGS


CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).