Red Osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Hosts 3 caterpillarsSpecialist hostBird foodPollinator plant
(c) giantcicada, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by giantcicada
Growing it
| When | Flowers June to July; fruits August to September |
|---|---|
| Type | shrub |
| Sun | Full sun, partial shade |
| Water | Medium, high |
| Soil | pH 5–7.5 |
| Hardiness | zone 2–7 |
| Mature height | 3 m |
| Mature spread | 3 m |
| Spacing | 2 m |
| Years to maturity | 4 |
| Bloom | Jun–Jul |
| Flower colour | White read from a published flora |
| In bloom | June July |
| Fruit | Aug–Sep |
| Native to | AB, SK |
egg-shaped leaves about 9 cm long in opposite pairs; several stems from the base
Where it has been recorded
Which ecoregions the records fall in
- Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 1773 records, high confidence
- Fescue Grassland south AB: 1100 records, high confidence
- Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 400 records, high confidence
- Northern Continental Divide south AB: 224 records, high confidence
- Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 192 records, high confidence
- Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 106 records, high confidence
- Eastern Continental Ranges central AB: 81 records, high confidence
- Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 62 records, high confidence
- Wabasca Lowland north AB: 57 records, high confidence
- Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 54 records, high confidence
- Peace Lowland north AB: 51 records, high confidence
- Western Alberta Upland central AB: 46 records, high confidence
- Slave River Lowland north AB: 14 records, medium confidence
- Western Boreal central AB: 6 records, low confidence
- Churchill River Upland north SK: 3 records, low confidence
- Hay River Lowland north AB: 3 records, low confidence
- Mid-Boreal Lowland central SK: 3 records, low confidence
These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.
See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.
Documented animals
49 documented relationships, 1 with a specialist that has no alternative.
nectar for
- Anania funebris Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Ancistrocerus adiabatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena carlini Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena crataegi Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena cressonii Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Andrena forbesii Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Andrena milwaukeensis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena persimulata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena prunorum Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Andrena rufosignata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena vicina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Andrena w-scripta Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Bicoloured Sweat Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Brachysomida nigripennis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Brown-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Bumblebee-like Digger Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Confusing Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Eastern Pine Elfin Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Golden Northern Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Grammoptera subargentata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Halictus confusus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Halictus tripartitus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Lasioglossum inconditum Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Lasioglossum pilosum Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Monarch Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Nevada Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Northern Azure Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Orange-legged Furrow Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Osmia exigua Specimen records from ecdysis.org
- Painted Lady Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Parenthesis Lady Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Pidonia scripta Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Silvery Blue Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Spear-marked Black Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Spring Cellophane Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Temnostoma venustum Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Tricoloured Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Western Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Yellow-banded Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
caterpillar host for
- Acleris cornana Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
- Aphilanthops frigidus Specimen records from mycoportal.org
- Phytomyza agromyzina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Spotted Tussock Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Spring Azure Acorn & Sheldon 2006
fruit for
- Blue Jay Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Cedar Waxwing Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Eastern Kingbird Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Song Sparrow Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
nest site for
- Yellow Warbler ★Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Also worth knowing
Safety
Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety
Buying it
About $25–$50 per plant (estimate), sometimes in big-box garden sections. Estimate (shrub default); AB retail as of 2026
Where these numbers came from
- Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate