North East Ohio shrub

[Weasel]

 

[Native Hunter]

My guess is Red Osier Dogwood. Reasons for my guess:

• It would be a native to North East Ohio per range maps I've seen.
• Not all wild ones have the extremely brilliant red stems like the named cultivars that people plant in yards. Many of the wild ones will have a tinge of red but not as brilliant as lots of the pictures you see on the Internet in people's yards (that were named cultivars bought at a nursery)..
• They are not native here, but I planted some wild seedlings, and mine look almost exactly like your pictures, and that includes the bases near the ground. I know mine are RODs because I have seen the fruit, and nothing else looks quite like that.

They are extremely tough. You can bushhog one down in the spring and by next spring it will be back to where it was when you cut it.

Look at the picture below. You see a persimmon tree in the foreground. That is a ROD bush just behind the persimmon. I took that picture a few weeks ago.

 

[Weasel]

Thanks NH, I thought that myself but it just didn't look like any of the pictures I found on the internet. I will keep an eye out for flowers, leaves & fruit and update with photos. I have a good bit of it so I'm relieved to find out it is a native shrub, unlike the pesky buckthorn you can see in the lower left of my last pic above.

 

[George]

My favorite shrub back in Michigan.

G

 

[KDdid]

Interesting. My farm fences and creek banks are full of this shrub, which I was thinking was grey dogwood, because the lower stalks are dark greyish-brown. What is it about the flowers/fruit that can help differentiate between grey and red osier, NH?

 

[Native Hunter]

Interesting. My farm fences and creek banks are full of this shrub, which I was thinking was grey dogwood, because the lower stalks are dark greyish-brown. What is it about the flowers/fruit that can help differentiate between grey and red osier, NH?

Grey berries have one or two 2 furrowed looking seed. ROD has one single large seed. But, both species are white on the outside at maturity

Gray has dome-shaped clusters of flowers, which are generally about as wide as they are tall. ROD has flat-topped clusters of flowers that are wider than they are tall.

Honestly, without the above test, they are hard [for me] to tell apart - unless you have some RODs that have the characteristic of being really red. Really, it doesn't matter because both are good shrubs and have equal wildlife value.

 

[KDdid]

Cool. I'm definitely going to pay more attention this year when the bloom. I cut hundreds of these for conibear trap stakes over the years, they were perfect in diameter and length for that. Shoved into the mud, I wonder if any of them ever woke up and took root?

 

[KDdid]

It's been a while since this thread was started, but I have reason to revisit this subject... back in February-March I was walking the farm looking at these red/grey dogwoods. On a whim, I cut several branches and shoved them into the freshly thawed mud, just to see what might happen. Today, the three I put in the ground were wide awake.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[j-bird]

Interesting. My farm fences and creek banks are full of this shrub, which I was thinking was grey dogwood, because the lower stalks are dark greyish-brown. What is it about the flowers/fruit that can help differentiate between grey and red osier, NH?

So it grows well for you? Would you be able to collect seed or cuttings if a guy wanted some when the time comes? I have a small wood lot that was logged and its a lowland type area that I am looking for various shrubs to help thicken the area up and this sounds like a great candidate to do just that. I was not aware it would do well this far south.....but if Native has in in KY and you have lots of it.....I "should" be able to get it to grow here.

 

[KDdid]

I'd be happy to collect some. I'm going to really concentrate on the flowering/seeding cycle, but honestly I think cuttings are the way to go. Ding me online this winter and I'll send some downstate.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[j-bird]

I'd be happy to collect some. I'm going to really concentrate on the flowering/seeding cycle, but honestly I think cuttings are the way to go. Ding me online this winter and I'll send some downstate.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

cool. I'll say something when we kick-off the seed/nut swap thread for the fall of 2017.......cause yo know we are gonna have one!

 

[KDdid]

cool. I'll say something when we kick-off the seed/nut swap thread for the fall of 2017.......cause yo know we are gonna have one!

J bird. Here's a good sample of one of these dogwood shrubs. About 8 feet tall, just starting to green up.



Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[massey]

red osier or silky - check out the berries later on. If they are white, its red osier. If they are blue, its silky.