Cornus canadensis (Bunchberry)

Cornus canadensis L.

Bunchberry, Canadian dwarf cornel, Canadian bunchberry, crackerberry, bunchberry dogwood,

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Cornales	Includes dogwoods, hydrangeas, stickleafs, tupelos, even sillyberries
Family	Cornaceae	Dogwood family
Genus	Cornus	Latin for “a horn”
Species	canadensis	“From Canada”

About plant names...

Bunchberry is a native of mid- to northern North America.

Identification: Bunchberry (which has many other common names, not all of which are listed here) rarely exceeds 8" (20 cm) in height. It is the smallest member of the dogwood family. It has alternate pairs of oval leaves, oriented for maximum exposure, to sop up the light on the dappled forest floors it favors. I often see these plants in large, almost continuous mats. The four white “flower petals” are really bracts—modified leaves. They surround the real flowers, a tiny cluster of greenish flowers. The flowers grow into a dense group of bright red berries (the “bunch”). The low growth (often just two inches), orderly leaf clusters, and bright red closely packed berries are identifiers.

The flower structure forms a powerful, spring-loaded launch facility for the pollen, a unique mechanism among flowering plants, as described by its discoverer, Dr. Ted Mosquin:

Then with dissecting needles I began opening one of the buds, only to discover that it seemed to transform itself in a fraction of a second into a fully open flower. I turned to a second bud, opened it and found four normal-looking, fully developed, undehisced anthers. I tried a third and was again surprised by what appeared to be a tiny explosion and what seemed like a small amount of pollen flying in all directions. I realized then that I might be looking at a unique phenomenon-perhaps never before witnessed by humans and perhaps undescribed. It was then that I began to pay more attention to another unusual characteristic of each flower. On the abaxial side and near the tip of one of the four petals of each unopened flower and projecting upward was a miniature “antenna” just over one mm long. It did not take long to establish that even the slightest touch of the dissecting needle to the antenna of any “ready to pop” flower would trigger the explosive mechanism; the petals would reflex, the anthers would spring out simultaneously like four tiny catapults and shoot their entire pollen loads into the air above the inflorescence.^[1]

Edibility: Ripe berries are edible, though they contain a hard seed and are fairly tasteless. They can be cooked into puddings.

Online References:

Cornus canadensis in Paghat's Garden

Cornus canadensis on Earl J.S. Rook's Flora, Fauna, Earth, and Sky ... The Natural History of the Northwoods

Cornus canadensis on CalPhotos

Cornus canadensis on Wikipedia

Cornus canadensis at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Cornus canadensis at the Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation

Cornus canadensis on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Cornus canadensis on the USDA Forest Service's Fire Effects Information Database

Cornus canadensis on the Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

References:

Peterson, Lee Allen, Peterson Field Guides: Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977, p. 20

7/12/2020 · Harraseeket Trail, Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Freeport, Maine
≈ 10 × 7" (24 × 16 cm)

5/15/2010 · By Constance B. Kent

5/14/2010 · Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hampshire
≈ 3½ × 3½" (9.3 × 9.8 cm)

12/12/2020 · Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hampshire

8/8/2015 · Mt. Wachusett
≈ 6 × 6" (15 × 16 cm)

8/15/2015 · Grafton Notch State Park, Newry, Maine
≈ 31 × 21" (79 × 53 cm)

7/5/2021 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 7 × 4½" (16 × 11 cm)

8/15/2015 · Grafton Notch State Park, Newry, Maine
≈ 10 × 7" (25 × 16 cm)

7/6/2012

7/12/2020 · Harraseeket Trail, Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Freeport, Maine
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 20 cm)

7/15/2012 · Fort Point State Park, Stockton Springs, Maine
≈ 9 × 6" (23 × 15 cm)

7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire
≈ 4½ × 4" (11 × 9.9 cm)

5/20/2021 · Eaton Farm Preserve, Wiscasset, Maine
≈ 4 × 3½" (11 × 9 cm)

¹The full article, “The explosive pollination mechanism in Cornus canadensis L.,” is available here.

Chamaepericlymenum canadense (L.) Asch. & Graebn.

Cornella canadensis (L.) Rydb.

Cornus canadensis L. var. dutillyi (Lepage) B. Boivin

Cornus canadensis description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 14 Aug 2021.

Just waking up in the spring. · 5/13/2021 · Otter Brook Preserve, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 7 × 4½" (18 × 12 cm)

9/18/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine
≈ 6 × 4" (15 × 10 cm)

6/9/2016 · Monhegan Island, Maine

7/26/2020 · Back River Trail, Eaton Farm Preserve, Wiscasset, Maine
≈ 5 × 6" (13 × 14 cm)

8/15/2015 · Grafton Notch State Park, Newry, Maine
≈ 15 × 10" (37 × 25 cm)

5/26/2016 · Pearl Hill State Park, Ashby, Massachusetts

6/2/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hampshire
≈ 6 × 4½" (14 × 11 cm)

7/12/2020 · Harraseeket Trail, Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Freeport, Maine
≈ 7 × 8" (16 × 21 cm)

8/1/2009 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine
≈ 5 × 4" (13 × 10 cm)

5/15/2010 · By Constance B. Kent

5/23/2021 · Widgeon Cove, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 5½ × 3½' (1.7 × 1.2 m)

Range:

About this map...