Gray Dogwood is best noted for its lovely form and fine branching, including red tinting on its trunk and twigs and red pedicles that persist into winter after the birds have picked off all the white fruits.
 
     Gray Dogwood also features brilliant fall foliage and a wild, natural habit.  Birds, especially bluebird and woodpeckers, eat the berries, and this shrub also provides nesting sites for birds and small mammals.  Gray Dogwood is a larval host to the Spring Azure butterfly and several moth species. 
 
     Gray Dogwood is at home in moist, sunny areas where it has room to spread.
 
     1st photo: Frank Mayfield