Gray Dogwood

Gray Dogwood
Cornus racemosa

The dogwoods of northeast Indiana can be a bit tricky to identify. While all unique, parts of them look exactly the same in the different seasons, so you about have to come back and take a look in different seasons to be sure of what you have. I'm sure the real botanists just look at the direction of the hairs on the peduncles to identify them, but I look for easier things.

There are three species that actually grow on my property, which makes it easy to come back and take a look. In fact I tagged them so that I knew which shrubs I was comparing.

They all have similar looking flowers, although this one has flowers in a roundish bundle and they are tucked below the outermost leaves. It is a shorter shrub, shorter than I am. The berries are white.

The other two species, Silky & Roughleaf will be featured in the next two days ... stay tuned.