Cornus amomum         Cornaceae

Silky Dogwood         KOR-nus a-MO-mum

• Broadleaf, deciduous, multistemmed shrub, 6-10 ft (1.8-3 m) tall, with a similar spread, rounded, open when mature.  Stems purplish with appressed pubescence on younger branches.  Leaves simple, opposite, 5-10 cm long and 2.5-5.5 cm wide, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, tip pointed, base rounded, margin entire, medium to dark green above, somewhat whitish below, white or brown pubescence on lower veins.  Fall color may be green, brown to purplish-red.  Flowers yellowish white, borne in flat-topped clusters (cymes), 4-6 cm across.   Fruit blue, but may fade to white in the sun, about 6 mm diam., ripens in late summer; reportedly a favorite of some bird species.
• Sun to part shade.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4          Native range from Massachusetts to Georgia and west into New York and Tennessee,
• amomum: an Indian spice plant.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: south side of Bloss dorm (2011).