Cornus florida is a small tree with four-season appeal. Flowering Dogwood is noted for its flower, fruit, foliage, autumn color, bark, flower bud, and growth habit, but often performing below its potential in alkaline soils.
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F E A T U R E S |
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Form
-small deciduous tree
-maturing at 15' tall x 20' wide under optimum conditions but often half that size or less under stressful conditions
-upright oval growth habit in youth to spreading mounded
with age, with limbs becoming layered, heavy, and slightly pendulous
-slow growth rate |
Foliage
-medium to dark green above but silvery-green below
-opposite and acuminate, with major veins parallel to the leaf margins
-autumn color red to crimson-purple, in Sept. and Oct., and often spectacular, especially in full to partial sun |
Flowers
-true flowers are small, yellow-green, and clustered in the middle of 4, white, showy, bracts that are obovate and have reddish-brown indentations at their apices
-flowering in late Apr. and early May and spectacular for up to 1 week |
Fruit
-ovoid clusters of upright fruits
-green turning to bright red in Sept., with a thin interior yellow flesh covering the seed
-very showy red fruits contrast well with the green foliage, or are showy by themselves when persistent through Nov. after leaf abscission
-fruits are readily eaten by birds and squirrels |
Twig
-red-brown to silvery brown twigs display sympodial branching (several twigs originate from a common branch point and are slightly uplifted and spreading, like fingers from an upturned palm)
-twig distinctly ringed with sequential leaf scars for a telescoping effect
-floral buds off-white, tinged with purple and forming in late summer, resembling biscuits with 2 distinct outer scales
-branches light gray and smooth |
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Trunk
-single or multi-trunked and low-branching
-bark is broken into small square or rectangular blocks, dark gray-brown, and often prominently covered with silvery lichens with age |
C U L T
U R E
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Culture
-tolerates full sun (if irrigated in summer) to full shade (if flowering and fruiting is not important), but best placed in partial sun to partial shade
-prefers well-drained but moist, acid soils
-propagated by rooted cuttings, cuttings grafted onto seedling understock, or seeds
-many disease and pest problems (exacerbated by improper placement in alkaline or neutral soils) including borers, leaf spots, and
anthracnose
-abundant availability in the trade
-not tolerant of compaction, severe heat with drought, poor drainage, alkaline soils, or urban stress in general |
Hardiness
-zones 5 to 9
Origin
-native to forests of Eastern and Southern U.S. as an understory tree or on the edges of woodlands
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U S A G E |
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Assets
-four-season small tree (spring flowers, summer foliage, autumn foliage and berries, winter bark, branching, and floral buds)
Liabilities
-not urban tolerant or stress tolerant (needs optimum placement, acid soil pH, and summer irrigation for full beauty to be realized)
-slow growth
-various cosmetic and life-threatening diseases and pests |
Function
-focal point, specimen, foundation, entranceway, understory, border, naturalizing, wildlife attraction, or four-season accent small tree
Texture
-medium in foliage and fine when bare
-average density in foliage and thick when bare |
S E L
E C T I 0 N S |
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Varieties
and Cultivars
- Search
OSU PlantFacts for additional plants in this species
Alternates
-small trees having multi-season qualities, especially showy flowering
-horizontally-layered or mounding shrubs or small trees |