The bark is dark gray to reddish brown and becomes scaly and exfoliating as the tree matures.ĭogwoods prefer moist, well-drained, acidic (5.5 to 6.0 pH) soil that is high in organic matter. Fall leaf color is often poor, ranging from dull green to purplish red. Although sour tasting fresh off the plant, fruits are edible and often abundant and may be used for making syrups, preserves, and pies. As kousa dogwood matures, the lower bark peels and creates a unique pattern similar to sycamore tree bark.Ĭornelian cherry dogwood: Medium to large-sized fruits mature to cherry red in mid-summer. Fall leaf color varies from purple to red to yellow. The fruits are edible, although somewhat mealy. Kousa dogwood: Showy, pinkish-red to red fruits resembling raspberries appear in September and October. The bark is smooth, dark green, and streaky eventually turning light brown with narrow fissures. In fall, the foliage becomes a mix of yellow and maroon. The fruit stalks remain and turn an attractive red. Pagoda dogwood: Black-blue droops appear in July and August. The dark, reddish-brown bark is rough and deeply checkered, making it an effective marker for tree identification. Fall leaf color is red to reddish-purple, although trees sited in full shade may have poor fall color. Cornelian cherry tends to be multi-stemmed and is formed more like a shrub than a tree.Ĭornus florida Photo: Ram Man, Creative Commonsįlowering dogwood: Maturing in late summer to early fall, the bright red fruits are loved by birds and wildlife. One of the most appealing features of many dogwoods is the graceful beauty of their tiered, horizontal branching, especially true of the flowering dogwood and the kousa dogwood when they are sited in shade. The kousa dogwood and pagoda dogwood flower after the leaves appear. Flowers are borne in tiny clusters close to the naked stems.īoth the flowering and Cornelian cherry dogwoods flower before the leaves appear. The small yellow flowers of the Cornelian cherry appear very early in spring, sometimes before forsythia, and often remain long into spring. Pagoda dogwood lacks the showy bracts of the flowering dogwood, but has 2″ flat clusters of fragrant, white flowers appearing in May to the beginning of June. The “flowers” may be white, pink or yellow. The true flowers are clustered in the center of these bracts. The “flowers” of the flowering dogwood and kousa dogwood are not actually flowers but bracts, which are modified leaves that look like petals. Each species brings its own value to the landscape. This article will discuss all four species of dogwoods, highlighting similarities, differences, and suitability to different sites.Ĭornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. alternifolia) are native to North America, in particular, to the eastern U.S. Of these four species, the flowering dogwood ( C. In addition to spring blooms, each species offers colorful berries in the fall, autumn leaf color, and interesting bark in winter. kousa) in May, and the pagoda dogwood ( C. florida) in April, the kousa dogwood ( C. Bloom season is long and beautiful, starting with the Cornelian cherry dogwood ( Cornus mas) in March, flowering dogwood ( C. Common name refers to the cherry-like fruits which resemble in color the semi-precious gemstone carnelian (or cornelian).Spring in Virginia is the season of the dogwood, with flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, serving as both the official state tree and the state flower. This name was applied to this plant because it was seen as the opposite of Cornus sanguinea, known as the female or wild cornel. The specific epithet mas means "masculine" or "male". Cornus is also the Latin name for cornelian cherry. Genus name comes from the Latin word cornu meaning horn in probable reference to the strength and density of the wood. Fruits may be used for making syrups and preserves. Fruits are edible, although sour tasting fresh off the plant. Fruits are ellipsoid, fleshy, one-seeded berries (drupes to 5/8" long) which mature to cherry red in mid-summer. Ovate to elliptic dark green leaves (to 4" long) typically develop insignificant fall color. Each umbel is surrounded at the base by small, yellowish, petaloid bracts which are much less showy than the large decorative bracts found on some other species of dogwood such as Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) and Cornus kousa (kousa dogwood). Yellow flowers on short stalks bloom in early spring before the leaves emerge in dense, showy, rounded clusters (umbels to 3/4" wide). Scaly, exfoliating bark develops on mature trunks. It typically grows over time to 15-25' tall with a spread to 12-20' wide. Cornus mas, commonly known as cornelian cherry, is a deciduous shrub or small tree that is native to central and southern Europe into western Asia.
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