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alaskan bunchberry, western bunchberry, western cordilleran bunchberry

black-fruit dogwood, miner's dogwwod, western Cornelian cherry

Habit Shrubs or trees, to 5 m, flowering at 2 m. Stems solitary; bark corky; branches splotched with maroon, brown, or red, eventually splitting along longitudinal swellings; branchlets green, densely appressed-hairy; lenticels maroon swellings, often erupting with corky surface.
Stems

erect, green, 6–22 cm, appressed-hairy;

nodes 4–6, internodes progressively longer distally;

branches only at distalmost node, much shorter than distal internodes so stems appear unbranched.

Leaves

at proximal 2–4 nodes nonchlorophyllous, opposite, ± scalelike, caducous (rarely chlorophyllous at 3d node from apex but much smaller than more distal leaves), at 2d node from apex nonchlorophyllous proximally, chlorophyllous distally, opposite, well developed, persistent, at distalmost node chlorophyllous, appearing to be in whorl of 6, well developed, persistent;

distalmost leaves much bigger than those at 2 more proximal nodes;

petiole 0–3.4 mm;

blade ovate to elliptic, 3.5–8 × 0.9–4 cm, apex acute or short acuminate, abaxial surface pale green, hairs sparsely appressed-hairy, adaxial surface green, appressed-hairy;

secondary veins 3 per side, all arising from proximal 1/2.

petiole 5–10 mm, base encircling twig;

blade elliptic, 4–9 × 2–4 cm, base cuneate, apex acute or short acuminate, abaxial surface yellow-green, appressed-hairy, tufts of erect hairs in axils of secondary veins, adaxial surface dark green, sparsely appressed-hairy;

secondary veins 4–5 per side, most usually arising from basal 1/2.

Inflorescences

20–40-flowered;

peduncle 13–30 mm;

primary branches 0–2 mm;

bracts greenish white or white, often red-tipped, unequal, 2 ovate, 21–30 × 12–13 mm, 2 suborbiculate, 17–1.9 × 13–16 mm, apex acuminate.

10–15-flowered;

peduncle 0–1 mm;

bracts tan or brown, lanceolate, 0.5–1 cm, apex acute.

Pedicels

0.4–1.6 mm, sparsely appressed-hairy or glabrous.

lax, apex flared.

Flowers

hypanthium cream to mottled purple, 1.2–2 mm, densely appressed-hairy;

sepals mottled purple and cream, 0.1–0.4 mm, apex rounded or acute, thick, sparsely hairy on margin, densely glandular;

petals cream proximally, purple distally, 1.5–1.8 mm, apical awn 0.4–0.6 mm;

nectary dark purple or black.

hypanthium narrowly conic, appressed-hairy;

sepals 0.1–0.5 mm;

petals greenish yellow, lanceolate, 3–4 mm.

Drupes

10–20 per inflorescence, red, globose, 6–8 mm;

stone globose or subglobose, 2.7–3.4 × 2.1–3.4 mm, longitudinally grooved, apex slightly pointed.

maturing from green to yellow, red, then purple-black, ellipsoid, 10–15 × 5–7.5 mm;

stone widely fusiform, 8–12 × 4–6 mm, with 2 lateral grooves on distal 2/3.

2n

= 44.

= 20.

Cornus unalaschkensis

Cornus sessilis

Phenology Flowering May–Aug; fruiting Aug–Oct. Flowering Mar–Jun; fruiting Aug–Sep.
Habitat Maritime copse or heath, maritime coniferous forests and bog woodlands, moist broadleaf or coniferous forests. Moist ravines and stream banks.
Elevation 0–3000 m. (0–9800 ft.) 60–2000 m. (200–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; OR; WA; AB; BC; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cornus sessilis is restricted to northern California, generally in the Klamath Range, Cascade Range, and northern Sierra Nevada, and southern Oregon in the Siskiyou Mountains.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 448. FNA vol. 12, p. 449.
Parent taxa Cornaceae > Cornus > subg. Arctocrania Cornaceae > Cornus > subg. Cornus
Sibling taxa
C. alternifolia, C. amomum, C. asperifolia, C. canadensis, C. drummondii, C. florida, C. foemina, C. glabrata, C. kousa, C. mas, C. nuttallii, C. obliqua, C. occidentalis, C. racemosa, C. rugosa, C. sanguinea, C. sericea, C. sessilis, C. suecica
C. alternifolia, C. amomum, C. asperifolia, C. canadensis, C. drummondii, C. florida, C. foemina, C. glabrata, C. kousa, C. mas, C. nuttallii, C. obliqua, C. occidentalis, C. racemosa, C. rugosa, C. sanguinea, C. sericea, C. suecica, C. unalaschkensis
Synonyms Arctocrania unalaschkensis, Chamaepericlymenum unalaschkense, Cornella unalaschkensis, Swida unalaschkensis
Name authority Ledebour: Fl. Ross. 2: 378. (1844) Torrey: in E. M. Durand, Pl. Pratten. Calif., 89. (1855)
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