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Introduction
Friedlander dogwood (Cornus × friedlanderi) is the named natural hybrid of gray dogwood (C. racemosa) and roundleaf dogwood (C. rugosa). Wagner described it from Michigan, where the ranges of the two eastern North American parents overlap. Plants combine characters of the parents and can be difficult to recognize without seeing a suite of vegetative and reproductive traits together (Wagner 1991; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2026).
Both parents are members of Subgenus Thelycrania. The hybrid is useful taxonomically because it illustrates ongoing gene flow among shrubby dogwoods whose species boundaries remain morphologically recognizable but are not absolute reproductive barriers.
Horticultural and Agricultural Uses
Friedlander dogwood has little established horticultural identity separate from its parents. Where naturally occurring plants are brought into living collections, provenance and parent-population information should be retained, since that context is central to interpreting an intermediate plant correctly.
The parent species suggest that the hybrid is best suited to cool-temperate, moisture-retentive woodland-edge or thicket conditions. That ecological expectation should not be treated as a substitute for documented clone-specific cultivation experience.
Conservation Concerns
No independent global threat assessment is appropriate for Cornus × friedlanderi. Its persistence depends on healthy populations of C. racemosa and C. rugosa and on contact zones where pollination between them remains possible. Protecting those parent populations preserves both the species and the natural hybridization process.
Additional Information
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Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab) - Accepted hybrid, parentage, and Michigan range.
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International Plant Names Index (opens in a new tab) - Nomenclatural record and publication details.
References and Further Reading
Wagner WH (1991) Cornus × friedlanderi. Michigan Botanist 29(4): 131.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026) Cornus × friedlanderi. Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:316108-2 (opens in a new tab)
Murrell ZE, Poindexter DB (2016) Cornaceae. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds) Flora of North America North of Mexico, vol. 12. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford. https://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1 (opens in a new tab)