Cornus drummondii

A thicket forming shrub with simple, opposite leaves with appressed hairs on their upper surface, white fruits in open clusters, generally found in wet sites. Similar to swamp dogwood (Cornus foemia) which has no appressed hairs. Might be confused with Virginia willow and Carolina buchthorn. To identify a member of the genus Cornus gently pull the leaf in half and if it is a dogwood the veins will remain intact producing thin thread-like strands between the two halves. The flowers of C. drummondii have no bracts like C. florida. The leaves are without teeth and the hair on the underside of the leaf feels like sandpaper.

The foliage of rough-leaf dogwood is utilized as food by white-tailed deer in Louisiana.

The Acadian French name for all south Louisiana dogwood species is "bois de fleche," which refers to their use in making arrow shafts. A red dye is made from the bark of the flowering dogwood.

Damp woodlands, thickets, swamps, marshes, edges of lakes and rivers and occasionally on dry hills.