General: Deciduous shrub; stems 1-6 m tall, spreading by layering of prostrate stems that simulate stolons; young branches opposite, bright reddish to reddish-purple, later turning greyish-green.
Leaves: Opposite, deciduous, oval, pointed, 4-12 cm long, greenish above, whitish below, turning reddish in the autumn, 5-7 prominent parallel veins converging at the leaf tips, white threads running through the veins.
Flowers: Inflorescence of flat-topped terminal clusters, 2-4 cm wide; flowers white to greenish-white, 4 petals and stamens, bracts inconspicuous.
Fruits: Berrylike drupes, 7-9 mm long, white sometimes blue-tinged, each with flattened stone.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
Wet to mesic streamsides, lakesides, swamps and forests in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common throughout BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to WV, OH, NE, NM, CA and MX.
Synonyms and Alternate Names: Cornus ×californica C.A. Mey. Cornus alba var. californica (C.A. Mey.) B. Boivin Cornus alba var. occidentalis (Torr. & A. Gray) B. Boivin Cornus occidentalis (Torr. & A. Gray) Coville Cornus sericea subsp. sericea L. Cornus stolonifera Michx. Cornus stolonifera var. californica (C.A. Mey.) McMinn Cornus stolonifera var. occidentalis (Torr. & A. Gray) C.L. Hitchc.
