Pale Dogwood

I finally got around to trying to identify the shrub that's been taking over my field these last few years. Due to various unfortunate circumstances I wasn't able to mow properly this year, or last, and now about half my property has become an impenetrable thicket of this stuff.

I think it's pale dogwood, also known as swamp dogwood, or blue-fruited dogwood. Cornus obliqua.


(Click on images to enlarge)

The undersides of the leaves are pale, compared to the upper sides.



The blossoms are tiny, with multiple blooms in heads. They smell sweet, and the flying things like them.





I will have to wait until late summer to see if the blossoms turn into blue berries, the way pale dogwood blossoms are supposed to.


Pale dogwood is a native wildflower, and according to this website, its status in Indiana is "secure." I'll say it's secure! It's more than secure.

And now there's a pair of red-winged blackbirds nesting somewhere among all the pale dogwood in my field. I know because they get upset whenever I walk out there. So I can't mow it down, even though my broken brush mower finally got repaired. But just wait until next March.