It's a dogwood of some type, Cornus species. There are a number of shrubby forms native to the US. Indicating where you are located may clarify the exact species.

Southeastern Pennsylvania, zone 6b. Silky dogwood (cornus amomum), thanks! Fits the role I need. Listed as edible..

Yep, silky dogwood. A close relative to red-osier dogwood, though IMO, less well adapted to my corner of the world. We've got them but the red-osier far outpaces silky in every case where I've seen them together. IN SE Pennsylvania, maybe it's just perfect.

This and all dogwoods are excellent wildlife plants. BTW, not your plant, but getting back to the red-osier: The word "osier" means red. So, Cornus stolonifera's (sericea-take your pick) common name means red red dogwood. As ridiculous as that is, not too far off if you've ever seen the brilliant red stems against snow in winter! Nothing else quite like it. The fact that vast acreages here in WI were once covered by this shrub has made it seem commonplace to many. But now that most of the wetlands-more specifically shrub-carr lands-have been ditched, drained and diked, not so common.

+oM

I dislike being contradictory but 'osier' means something different from 'red'. It comes from an old French word meaning 'willow', 'willow twig' or 'willow-like', so that converts "red osier" to "red willow", which is also an accepted common name for this shrub dogwood :-)

Corkscrew willow are also amusing to me. Has anyone had experience with creeping dogwood as a ground cover, specifically how fast it spreads? I've heard the red twig dogwood has a very fast growth rate.

The red twig dogwood that I have (labeled sericea, FWIW) roots from the tips of the branches- they get long, droop over, get near the ground and grow roots. It gets BIG, but you need to cutting out the old growth so that new growth will come in, as it's the new growth that turns red in the winter. Thus it's a balance between flowers (old growth) and red in the winter (new growth). It's a tough plant, though, and can take any weather, in NJ at least.

I never knew they layered like willows.

Quite right, GG. Somehow, I'd gotten it in my head that "osier" was synonymous with the word red. So, willowy! I can dig it.

The stolonifera in Cornus stolonifera's Latin name refers to the habit of branches arching downward, rooting into that spot, and starting anew plant, just as described above by
Lisanti. I've got one in my yard that could easily be separated into three large plants now, the tips having done so. Red-twigged dogwood (my preferred name) is an excellent candidate for renewal pruning, the periodic removal at ground level of the oldest, stoutest stems. This keeps the plant in a forever juvenile form, which has the best fall/winter stem coloration.

+oM