(MN edition)
At the end of every summer, I take some much-needed R&R at a family cabin in the Chippewa National Forest. One of the advantages of this relocation — in addition to relaxing in an incredibly beautiful natural setting — is the chance to meet new plants in a far-away place. Of my many new acquaintances, a personal favorite is bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) because it's both beautiful and such an interesting anomoly.
Bunchberry looked oddly familiar when I first admired it in the forest, but its radically diminutive size compared to others in its family threw me off, so I had to look at a guidebook to make the connection. Of course, ...it's a dogwood! How could I not see that? Just look how those leaves resemble the foliage of the more-common flowering dogwood tree (Cornus florida), and the fruit is strikingly similar too.
The specific epithet is a clue to its range — I doubt you'll find this cold-loving plant far south of the Canadian border — and while its listed as USDA cold-hardiness zone 2 - 7, I expect it would need a whole lot of shade and very consistent moisture to survive in zones 6 or 7.
A patch of bunchberry in the Chippewa National Forest