View photos of the medicinal plant Cornus kousa (Japanese Dogwood).

View photos of the medicinal plant Cornus sericea (Red osier dogwood), profiled in Medicinal Plants of the Western Mountain States.

Mainly a higher mountain shrub in the West, Red osier gets little medicinal attention these days…even in the past it was a folk medicine of folk medicines.

The whitish 4-petaled flowers develop in flat-topped cymes at branch ends. Most western Dogwoods have small flowers like these, unlike Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) of the eastern part of the country with its much larger display.

The branches (pictured in Feb.) are a notable red-purple. Remember this feature. It’ll help in identifying the plant during the colder seasons from other streamside shrubs.

One nice thing about collecting Red osier is the abundance of colony plants on the edges of a stand – branches successfully root and form new plants when they lay on the ground.

Scrape away the rootbark (and bark from the lower stems); dry for tea or tincture preparations. During a multi-day fever (flu, common viral infection, wintertime cold, etc.) when temperatures are low (usually in the morning), before spiking at night, take the herb as a mild circulatory-vitality stimulant. It may have some immunological impact, but Cornus and its iridoid glycosides (cornin et al.) are not well-researched, so that’s conjecture. Whatever the mechanism, timed during the temperature lulls, the herb facilitates a ‘better’ fever response, assisting the body in getting well more quickly. Not as bitter as Flowering dogwood (considered a stronger medicine and used the same way), it still is not the best tasting and can be unsettling to the stomach. Try adding Mint or Ginger if this is the case.

The fruit are edible, but only marginally. They were usually mixed with other mountain berries: Chokecherry, Serviceberry, etc. Willow-like branches for basket weaving…the inner upper stem bark as an ingredient in smoking mixtures…useful all around.

A passage from Medicinal Plants of the Western Mountain States:

At least one important glycoside (cornin) in Red osier (and in other Cornus species) has been shown to diminish significantly in the presence of heat. This means the cold infusion is a choice preparation for the plant; however, a regular infusion of the rootbark will also be found adequate. The decoction, due to its continued application of heat, will be of some use, just not optimal. If in need of a condensed preparation (nausea being an issue with the poor–tasting tea), the dried plant tincture of the rootbark should be considered. Red osier rootbark should always be first dried due to the fresh material’s more pronounced nauseating effect.

View photos of the medicinal plant Cornus drummondii (Roughleaf dogwood).