Cross Timbers

Gateway from forest to prairie

5th poster of the
Biodiversity of Oklahoma series

Roughleaf Dogwood

Cornus drummondii

Family: Cornaceae (dogwood)

Shrub or rarely small tree. Leaves opposite, entire, elliptical, pointed, 4-9 cm (1.6-3.5in) long and 3-5 cm (1.4-2 in) wide with prominent paired curved veins, green and rough above, pale and soft-hairy below. Flowers in flat-topped clusters 5-7.5 cm (2-3 in) across, numerous, small, white, blooming in late spring. Fruits round, about 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter, white when ripe, in loose clusters at the ends of leafy branches.

Distribution: The species is native to the eastern interior U. S. from Georgia to Pennsylvania west to Texas and Nebraska.
Habitat: most abundant in forest-prairie margins and old fields.
NWI status: FAC
Comment: Cornus is derived from the Latin word for horn, referring to the hard wood; drummondii is in honor of Thomas Drummond, a Scottish explorer who collected plants in Texas.

From the Catalog of the Woody Plants of Oklahoma by Johnson & Hoagland.

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The Biodiversity of Oklahoma poster series is a project of the Oklahoma Biological Survey and the University of Oklahoma.
For more information contact the Priscilla Crawford, at prill@ou.edu or 405-325-7658.