Cornus sanguinea L., Dogwood
Account Summary
Probably native, but possibly some sites planted or representing escapes from cultivation, rather rare. European temperate.
1872; Smith, T.O.; Colebrooke River (unspecified portion).
April to October.
Growth form, status and preferred habitats
One of the most distinctive identification features of the genus Cornus is the very obvious curved leaf veins (in this species in 3-5 pairs), that are impressed on the upper surface, and stand out prominently beneath. The autumn leaf colour is a spectacular burgundy or claret reed and the bare red twigs provide additional winter colour. A distinctive, often blood red-twigged, freely suckering, small tree or shrub up to 6 m with a rounded crown and opposite, simple, deciduous leaves, Dogwood is regarded as native in Ireland although it is also frequently planted in hedges and for cover on estates. C. sanguinea is widely scattered in rocky places and thickets on lime or base-rich soils. In relict patches of woodland and in scrub and hedges in Fermanagh and elsewhere across Ireland, C. sanguinea often grows associated with Crataegus monogyna (Hawthorn), Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn) and Rhamnus cathartica (Buckthorn), plus Euonymus europaeus (Spindle) and Viburnum opulus (Guelder-rose).
Although scattered and relatively rare elsewhere on the island, C. sanguinea is possibly also indigenous around the Lough Erne basin in Fermanagh (An Irish Flora 1996). The records at the Crom and Belleisle landed demesnes strongly suggest the possibility of deliberate planting there, and the related American species C. sericea (Red-osier Dogwood) has definitely been introduced at the Crom estate (Kelly 1990). There might even be a suspicion that mis-identification of C. sericea for C. sanguinea might be involved in one or two of the Fermanagh cases. Nevertheless, records show these two dogwood species are present in woodland sites around Lough Erne, although both are relatively rare.
Fermanagh occurrence

The Fermanagh Flora Database contains records of C. sanguinea from a total of 14 tetrads, nine of them with post-1974 dates. It is found on riverbanks and the margins of moist woods and thickets on base-rich lakeshores and on limestone rock outcrops like Knockninny Hill. It is chiefly distributed around both parts of Lough Erne and on adjacent ground.
These two Dogwood species can occur in similar habitats and, perhaps, even sometimes grow near one another. Only C. sericea, however, is a definite introduction in Fermanagh. Generally the latter occurs in sites with easy access that are clearly and unambiguously planted, eg along tracksides in conifer plantation at Crom and in a shrubbery below Crom Castle itself. C. sanguinea is more sporadically scattered than C. sericea, sometimes in rather remote sites a considerable distance off road, eg on the limestone outcrop of Knockninny Hill and also near Lisnarrick, Crockhaver, Enaghan and at Scottsborough lakelet.
Reproduction
C. sanguinea reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by vigorous suckering. The inflorescence is a many-flowered, ± flat, umbel-like corymbose cyme that develops before the leaves fully open. The white flowers open in June and July and have their parts in fours with a 2-celled ovary. They contain nectar and give off a faint, but pleasant scent that attracts pollinating bees (Edlin 1964). The fruit, which ripens in small clusters in September, is a shiny, purplish-black, pea-like fleshy drupe, with red-staining juice and a bitter taste (Lang 1987). Each drupe contains a single, hard, two-celled stone which is dispersed as a unit over the next few months by a range of common birds of the thrush and crow families. The Starling generally is the most active seed vector (Snow & Snow 1988).
British and Irish occurrence
In Britain, C. sanguinea is widespread and locally common on limestone, chalk and base-rich clays in lowland S England and E Wales, which means it has a rather definite south-eastern distribution, becoming rare or absent both northwards and westwards. In Ireland, as a native (or presumed native), it is thinly scattered, mainly in the W & C of the island. Both to the N & S of this zone, it is rare and is regarded as a planted introduction (New Atlas).
In recent years, Dogwood has become commonly used in amenity landscape planting along roadside and motorway embankments and in similar groundcover planting in towns and cities in both B & I. As a result, Dogwood has spread sporadically beyond its native range and the boundaries between native and planted are now rather blurred and more work is required to clarify the status in individual sites (Hackney et al. 1992; G.T.D. Wilmore, in: Preston et al. 2002).
European and world occurrence
C. sanguinea is restricted to temperate parts of Europe, absent from the NE and extreme N, and thinning southwards and becoming rare in the Iberian peninsula and in SE Asia and Asia Minor (Turkey, Iraq and Iran) (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 1378; Sell & Murrell 2009).
Names
The genus name 'Cornus' is derived from the Latin 'corneus' or 'crann' meaning 'horny', an allusion to the wood's hard texture. The Latin specific epithet 'sanguinea' means 'blood-red', referring to the twig colour (Gledhill 1985). The English common name 'Dogwood' is also believed to derive from the hard white wood that the branches offer, and which previously were used (often by travellers) to make good skewers, since the term 'dog' is or was used by timber-men to mean a sharp spike (Edlin 1964). The hard timber was also used for millcogs, pestles, spikes and wedges. It also made arrows, ramrods, toothpicks and pipe stems and its charcoal was used to make gunpowder (Grigson 1987). Sixteen alternative English common names listed by Grigson include 'Cat-wood' and 'Gatter-bush', contemptuous references to cats and goats associated with the sometimes bad or off-putting smell of the bush and dislike of its inedible black fruits (Grigson 1987).
Threats
None.