# Swedish Cornel

*Cornus suecica*

The four 'white petals' are actually modified leaves called bracts; the true flowers are the tiny black-purple dots clustered in the center.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Cornales › Cornaceae › Cornus
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Boreal forests, acidic heathlands, moors, and peat bogs.
- **Diet:** Photosynthetic (sunlight, water, and soil nutrients).
- **Range:** Scandinavia, Scotland, Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland
- **Size:** 5 to 25 cm in height.
- **Lifespan:** Perennial; the underground rhizome system can persist for decades.
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Peatland drainage, climate warming in subarctic regions, and habitat fragmentation.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. This plant is safe to touch and the berries are non-toxic, though they are mealy and tasteless. No medical action is required for contact. Avoid trampling the surrounding mossy habitat.

## About

Cornus suecica ( dwarf cornel or bunchberry ) is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of Europe and Asia, and also locally in extreme northeastern and northwestern North America.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/b7002015-01ed-451b-a894-1d6d56ab1bbe
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/134125
- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_suecica
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/506834601/medium.jpg (Allison Gray, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.