Cornaceae

Cornus L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 118 (1753)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Temp. Eurasia to Indo-China, South Sudan to S. Tropical Africa, N. America to Bolivia.

Descriptions

Cornaceae, J. F. M. Cannon. Flora Zambesiaca 4. 1978

Morphology General Habit
Trees with opposite, simple, entire, petiolate leaves.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers tetramerous, dioecious.male flowers arranged in cymules forming dense terminal clusters; female flowers in terminal umbels.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences at first enclosed within 4 deciduous herbaceous bracts which provide protection for the developing flowers.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals valvate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary 2-locular with 1 ovule in each locule.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit drupaceous with the shrivelled remains of the calyx and style at the apex.
[FZ]

Cornaceae, B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1958

Morphology General Habit
Trees with opposite petiolate entire leaves
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers tetramerous, dioecious; ♂ flowers in cymules which are arranged subumbellately in a dense terminal inflorescence; ♀ flowers in terminal umbels; both types of inflorescence have an involucre of four subherbaceous bracts which entirely include the very young inflorescence forming an apiculate bud
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Peduncles thickened at the apex
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals valvate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary 2-locular
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit a drupe crowned by the remains of calyx and style; stone 2-celled.
[FTEA]

Common Names

English
Dogwood

Sources

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    • Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0