Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Identifying Features
Plant Family: Cornaceae
Native Range: Eastern North America
Leaf: deciduous, opposite and simple, leaf margin smooth, veins follow leaf edge
Twig and Bud: twigs green to purple and curve upward at tips, floral buds large and flat-topped with bud scales making an X
Flower, Fruit and Seed: flowers are clustered and surrounded by four white petal-like bracts with notched tips, clustered red drupes form from the flowers
Bark: checkered with small blocks
Shape and Mature Height: typically, a single-trunked tree, crown is flat and spreading, grows to 15-20 feet
Garden Value and Considerations
Flowering dogwood is a commonly used ornamental tree due to its interesting bark and growth habit, its showy flowers and fruits, and the shades of red in its fall foliage. It grows best in moist, well-drained, acidic soils in partial shade.
Notes
Flowering dogwood buds are a favorite food source for the caterpillar of the spring azure butterfly. Many pollinators visit the flowers, including some native mining bees that are dependent upon dogwoods as pollen specialists. The fruits provide a late season food source to American Robins, Cedar Waxwings and several other birds.
