Gray Dogwood vs Water Arum - TreeTime.ca

Gray Dogwood vs Water Arum

Cornus racemosa

Calla palustris

CUSTOM GROW

CUSTOM GROW

Gray Dogwood
Water Arum

Gray dogwood is a thicket-forming, deciduous shrub with greenish-white blossoms in open, terminal clusters. Young twigs are red and the fruit pedicels remain conspicuously red into late fall and early winter.

Fruit itself is a white, 1/4 in. drupe that usually does not remain on the shrub for long.

Great for naturalizing wild areas, this shrub attracts birds and other wildlife.

Water Arum is a native perennial wetland plant known for its showy white oval sheaths (spathe) that surround a yellow-green, cylindrical flower spike (spadix). It has large, oblong, heart-shaped leaves on stems that rise above the water from shallow, spreading rhizomes. The blossoms are followed in late summer by tiny, pear-shaped fruits that ripen to bright red, adding ornamental interest to wet habitats.

Water Arum provides food for birds and small mammals that eat its berries, and its flowers attract pollinators. It can tolerate cold climates and forms colonies in shallow water and saturated soils. It is well-suited for ecological restoration, riparian planting, naturalisation, and habitat projects in wet and shaded environments.

Gray Dogwood Quick Facts

Water Arum Quick Facts

Zone: 4a
Zone: 1b
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Height: 0.2 m (0.8 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 0.2 m (0.8 ft)
Light: any
Light: shade, partial shade
Moisture: any
Moisture: wet
Growth rate: slow
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Growth form: colony-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium, seeds - low
Suckering: medium


Toxicity: toxic if ingested
Fall colour: deep, reddish puple
Flowers: white sheath around and yellow spike
Bloom time: spring to summer
Berries: red, in clusters
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: MB, ON, QC
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, PE
Other Names: bog arum, swamp lily, wild calla, wild dragon