vandaliatraveler:Appalachian Spring, 2018, Volume Forty-Five: Bunchberry. Bunchberry (Cornus canade
vandaliatraveler:Appalachian Spring, 2018, Volume Forty-Five: Bunchberry. Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) is an example of a boreal plant that moved south along the Appalachian spine during the last Ice Age only to become stranded in isolated populations on “sky islands” as the planet warmed. A perennial, deciduous, ground-creeping shrub that grows on the margins of cool, moist forests at higher elevations, the plant gets its common name from its tendency to form clumping colonies from branching rhizomes. The flowers and leaves of the bunchberry plant look similar to those of the flowering dogwood because they’re part of the same family; bunchberry is a dwarf dogwood. Not surprisingly, it’s also known as creeping dogwood and dwarf cornel. The attractive foliage consists of six glossy, deeply-veined, green leaves arranged in a false whorl at the top of the stem. The flowers are composed of four showy white bracts surrounding small, greenish flowers with pronounced stamens and anthers. Bright red, berry-like drupes follow the flowers and are edible; they have a very mild flavor reminiscent of apple. The photos above were taken on Spruce Mountain and at Spruce Knob Lake in West Virginia. -- source link
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