Introductory
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia | Alternate-Leaf Dogwood 



ABBREVIATION : 
CORALT

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   COAL2


COMMON NAMES : 
   alternate-leaf dogwood


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name for alternate-leaf dogwood is
Cornus alternifolia L.f. (Cornaceae) [13].  There are no recognized
infrataxa.  Alternate-leaf dogwood hybridizes with red-osier dogwood (C.
sericea) [13].


LIFE FORM : 
Tree, Shrub

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Milo Coladonato, April 1994


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 



AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Coladonato, Milo. 1994. Cornus alternifolia. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia | Alternate-Leaf Dogwood 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Alternate-leaf dogwood occurs from Newfoundland through the New England
States to the Florida Panhandle.  It extends west to the northern shores
of Lake Superior and eastern Minnesota and south through the Midwest
States to Arkansas and Mississippi [6,21,27].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES13  Loblolly - shortleaf pine
   FRES14  Oak - pine
   FRES15  Oak - hickory
   FRES17  Elm - ash - cottonwood
   FRES18  Maple - beech - birch
   FRES19  Aspen - birch


STATES : 
     AL  AR  CT  DE  FL  GA  IL  IN  IA  KY
     ME  MD  MA  MI  MN  MS  MO  NH  NJ  NY
     NC  OH  PA  RI  SC  TN  VT  VA  WV  WI
     MB  NB  NF  ON  PQ  NS


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     ACAD  ALPO  BISO  BITH  BLRI  BUFF
     CATO  CUGA  DEWA  EFMO  GRSM  INDU
     ISRO  JOFL  NERI  OBRI  PIRO  SHEN
     SLBE  VOYA


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K093  Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest
   K097  Southeastern spruce - fir forest
   K100  Oak - hickory forest
   K101  Elm - ash forest
   K102  Beech - maple forest
   K103  Mixed mesophytic forest
   K104  Appalachian oak forest
   K106  Northern hardwoods
   K107  Northern hardwoods - fir forest
   K108  Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
   K110  Northeastern oak - pine forest
   K111  Oak - hickory - pine forest
   K112  Southern mixed forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
     1  Jack pine
     5  Balsam fir
    16  Aspen
    17  Pin cherry
    21  Eastern white pine
    23  Eastern hemlock
    24  Hemlock - yellow birch
    25  Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
    26  Sugar maple - basswood
    27  Sugar maple
    28  Black cherry - maple
    30  Red spruce - yellow birch
    31  Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
    32  Red spruce
    33  Red spruce - balsam fir
    34  Red spruce - Fraser fir
    39  Black ash - American elm - red maple
    42  Bur oak
    46  Eastern redcedar
    52  White oak - black oak - northern red oak
    53  White oak
    57  Yellow-poplar
    58  Yellow-poplar - eastern hemlock
    60  Beech - sugar maple
    62  Silver maple - American elm
    70  Longleaf pine
    80  Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
    81  Loblolly pine
    82  Loblolly pine - hardwood
    93  Sugarberry - American elm - green ash


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Alternate-leaf dogwood is an understory dominant in the northeastern
United States and in the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) forest of the
Great Lakes region [8,16,18].

Common associates of alternate-leaf dogwood include chokecherry (Prunus
virginiana), American hazel (Corylus americana), hazelnut (C. cornuta),
mountain maple (Acer spicatum), striped maple (A. pennsylvanicum), black
cherry (Prunus serotina), serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis),
mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia), huckleberries (Vaccinium spp), and
dogwoods (Cornus spp.) [2,18,21].

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia | Alternate-Leaf Dogwood 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
At least 11 species of birds including ruffed grouse eat alternate-leaf
dogwood.  Black bear also eat the fruit.  The leaves and stems are eaten
by white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, and beavers [7,15,22,30].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
Alternate-leaf dogwood provides cover for many small birds and animals
[21].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia | Alternate-Leaf Dogwood 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Alternate-leaf dogwood is a large shrub or small tree that may reach 25
to 30 feet (7.5-9 m) in height [5,14,25].  The trunk forks near the
ground into several branches that spread horizontally in layers.  The
bark is thin.  The alternate leaves occur mainly at the end of the
twigs.  The fruit is a drupe [10,17,21,31].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
The dogwood species reproduce by layering, sprouting from the root
crown, and by seed [21,30].  The seed is dispersed by gravity and
animals.  Germination is delayed due to embryo dormancy [21].

Alternate-leaf dogwood is vegetatively propagated [21].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Alternate-leaf dogwood grows best on well-drained deep soils. It is
found in moist woodlands, along forest margins, on stream and swamp
borders, and near deep canyon bottoms [1,16,21].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Alternate-leaf dogwood is shade-tolerant [9,20].  It is a dominant
understory species in mature forest in New England, and a
late-successsional understory shrub in the aspen (Populus spp.) and
sugar maple forests of Michigan [21,26].  

Alternate-leaf dogwood also occurs in younger tree stands.  It was a
dominant shrub species in a 49-year-old aspen stand and an 18-year-old
aspen stand in northern Minnesota [32].  Alternate-leaf dogwood had a
density of 54 stems per hectare in a 20- to 30-year-old burn in North
Carolina [36].  Alternate-leaf dogwood occurs in both young (age <41
years) and old (age >40 years) oak (Quercus spp.) clearcuts in
southwestern Wisconsin [33].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Alternate-leaf dogwood flowers from May to July.  The fruit ripens from
July through September [4,20].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia | Alternate-Leaf Dogwood 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Fire survival and postfire regeneration strategies for alternate-leaf
dogwood are not well documented in the literature.  If the roots or
stems survive fire, it may reproduce vegetatively.  Alternate-leaf
dogwood may colonize fire disturbed sites with animal-dispersed seed
[26].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia | Alternate-Leaf Dogwood 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fires probably top-kills alternate-leaf dogwood.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
No specific information is available on fire response of alternate-leaf
digwood.  Since it sprouts from the root crown, it probably does so
after top-kill by fire.

Perala [23] reported that alternate-leaf dogwood was "encouraged" by
prescribed fire in an aspen-mixed hardwood forest in north-central
Minnesota, but no details were given.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia | Alternate-Leaf Dogwood 



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Related categories for Species: Cornus alternifolia | Alternate-Leaf Dogwood