What's up? Dogwood.

Spring is well on its way. I am well overdue in posting due to a month full of travel -- first to Las Vegas and then to Palm Springs: two otherwise uninhabitable desert oases built and thriving on will power and stubbornness, seemingly. I did bring a camera both places, and you can expect to see some content from them soon. 

First, a bit about Cornus, dogwood. Many are familiar with dogwood, or at least aware that there is a shrub called dogwood. My favorite thing about the genus of plants is the "dogwood test" -- when one pulls a leaf apart width-wise, making a horizontal tear, fibrous strands within the leaf hold it together. It's the coolest thing! And a good way to tell whether you're looking at a dogwood. This is illustrated here.

But if you aren't feeling like mutilating an innocent shrub, you can look for strong venation in the leaves -- studying the photo below may help. Also, look for opposite leaves and branches. What do I mean opposite? The leaf stems and branching come off of the larger branches beneath directly across from each other. For an example of this, look at the branch toward lower-right-center below. It is like an inverted "Peace" symbol without the circle around it.  Can you see it?

Most shrubs and trees are branched "alternately", or as one goes up the stem, the smaller branches are arranged one, then another upward and across, then another, etc. -- not paired. 

MADCapHorse is a mnemonic device I just learned from the blog brilliantbotany to help remember the groups of plants that are opposite-branched and opposite-leaved. The first three letters, M, A, and D stand for Maple, Ash, Dogwood; Cap represents the honeysuckles Caprifoliaceae; and Horse chestnuts are not to be forgotten as opposite either. Elderberries are also opposite but no longer in Caprifoliaceae (now Adoxaceae); and buckeyes are too. MADCapBuckingHorseAdox is more like it.

Cornus sericea (red-osier dogwood), Marin County, April 2013.

And, I might as well throw in a stitched triptych (stryptich? trypstitch?) of Bear on the local woodsy dog path. A good place to hear Swainson's thrush sing this time of year. Above him is a large oak, and below that are many wild plums or cherries (both with alternate branches).

Beardog checks out the path to Eastwood Park, Tam Valley, CA, April 2013. 3 separate frames stitched together with Hugin.