Common dogwood
Cornus sanguinea
Family · Cornaceae · Irritating
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The hedgerow shrub whose stems turn blood red in winter, when it drops its leaves, and which is therefore visible from afar on a riverbank in January. It has an identification trick that works all year.
Streams and ditches · Oak woods · Roadsides and waste ground · Uplands
Also known asbloody dogwood, European dogwood
How to tell it
The trick: tear a leaf slowly in half and pull the two halves apart. White elastic threads stretch between them, like webs, holding without breaking. Only the dogwood family does this. Opposite leaves, with curved veins converging at the tip. Black berries in a flat cluster.
What it is confused with
Mediterranean buckthorn
Rhamnus alaternus
The common names get swapped and both bear inedible black berries. Common dogwood has opposite leaves and drops them in winter, its stems turning red; buckthorn has alternate leaves and is evergreen.
What it is for
The wood is extremely hard and made handles, gear teeth and skewers. The black berries are not eaten: they are bitter and cause vomiting, unlike those of cornelian cherry, which is a different species.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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