Common Name:

swamp dogwood, stiff cornel

Synonym(s):

Swida foemina

Genus species:

Cornus foemina

Family:

Cornaceae

Form:

tree

Size:

10-30 ft tall by 10-20 ft wide

Life Span:

long-lived perennial; likely lives 50 years or less.

Flower Color:

white

Fruit Color:

blue

Phenology:

deciduous; blooms in spring, with fruits summer-early fall

Noted For:

Recommended Uses:

Use along streams or edges of retention areas. Can be a screen or specimen tree in moist areas. Blooms better in moderate to high light settings.

Considerations:

Availability:

Propagation:

seed

Light:

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Stays wet ---to--- Not wet but not extremely dry

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Loam, Organic (muck), Sand

Soil pH:

acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

8A, 8B, 9A, 9B, 10A

Wildlife:

birds and small mammals consume the fruit

Attracts long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, and butterflies. Larval host for cecropia silkmoth (Hyalophora cecropia) and spring azure butterfly (Celastrina ladon).

Native Habitats:

Riverine swamps, bluffs, bluffs, gum swamps. Typically in areas of relatively brief, shallow inundation.

Natural Range in Florida:

Visit the USF Libraries Atlas of Florida Plants

Ethnobotany:

General Comments: