Cornus canadensis
Cornus canadensis is a herbaceous member of the Cornaceae (dogwood) family. It has various common names, such as the Bunchberry dogwood, Canadian Bunchberry, Quatre-temps, or Crackerberry. It is a widespread plant of the northern hemisphere.
| Cornus canadensis | |
|---|---|
| File:CanadianDogwoodGrowingTrailSide cropped.jpg | |
| Growing at Elfin Lakes, British Columbia | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification e | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Order: | Cornales |
| Family: | Cornaceae |
| Genus: | Cornus |
| Subgenus: | Cornus subg. Arctocrania |
| Species: | C. canadensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cornus canadensis | |
It grows about 20–30 cm tall and bears tiny flowers a few millimetres across. They form an inflorescence at the center of four white, petal-like bracts 3–4 cm diameter.
Each flower has highly elastic petals that flip backward, releasing springy filaments that are cocked underneath the petals. The filaments snap upward flinging pollen out in less than half a millisecond. The pollen experiences a force two to three thousand times the force of gravity.[2] The Bunchberry has one of the fastest plant actions found so far. It needs a camera capable of shooting 10,000 frames per second to catch the action.[3]
- "One of the fastest actions in the plant world is the explosive opening of flowers on the bunchberry dogwood, which happens in just under 0.5 milliseconds. As the flowers burst open, the petals quickly separate and flip back, exposing the stamens. During the first 0.3 milliseconds, researchers have calculated the stamens are exposed to a force 800 times greater than astronauts experience during blast-off. The mechanism, it is understood, allows pollen to be thrown upwards in order for it to be transported by the wind".[4]
In other words, it is a mechanism for cross-pollination by air.
The fruits are edible with a mild flavour somewhat like apples. The large seeds within are somewhat hard and crunchy. Birds are the main dispersal agents of the seeds, consuming the fruit during their fall migration. In Alaska, bunchberry is an important forage plant for mule deer, black-tailed deer and moose, which consume it throughout the growing season.[5]
Where bunchberry, a forest species, and Cornus suecica, a bog species, grow near each other in their overlapping ranges in Alaska, Labrador, and Greenland, they can Hybrid ize by cross-pollination, producing plants with intermediate characteristics.[6]
Cornus Canadensis Media
- Bunchberry plants.jpg
Mature and immature flowers, Bonnechere Provincial Park, Ontario
- Bunchberry Immature flowers.jpg
Immature bunchberry flowers
- Ccanadensis.jpg
Fruit of Cornus canadensis
- Cornus canadensis 01.JPG
Cornus canadensis. A ground cover (dwarf) Dogwood. Hortus Haren.
- Cornus canadensis seeds.jpg
Seeds of Cornus canadensis
Dwarf Dogwood, Bunchberry, or Canadian Dwarf Cornel (Cornus canadensis) near Dawson City, Klondike Loop Highway, Yukon, Canada. Photographed on 11 August 2009.
- Cornus canadensis (mature flower).jpg
One single Cornus Canadensis found near Lake Maligne, Alberta, Canada. Leaves in the background, flower in the foreground showing mature petals and in-development fruits
- Cornus canadensis britton brown.jpg
Cornus canadensis
- Cornus canadensis HdB2.png
Plate from book
References
- ↑ "Cornus Canadensis". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 2018-04-01.[dead link]
- ↑ A record-breaking pollen catapult at Academia.edu
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers at line 630: attempt to index field 'known_free_doi_registrants_t' (a nil value).
- ↑ BBC News & Environment: Picture Gallery [1]
- ↑ Hanley, Thomas A. et al 1987. Forest stand-age related differences in apparent nutritional quality of forage for deer in southeastern Alaska. In Provenza F.D.; Flinders J.T. & McArthur E.D. eds. Proceedings of the symposium on plant-herbivore interactions. Ogden UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station: 9-17
- ↑ Neiland, Bonita J. 1971. The forest-bog complex of southeast Alaska. Vegetatio. 22: 1-64.