Cornus florida
Flowering Dogwood
Cornaceae

Located on side of W.B. Young Bldg.

  • leaves simple, opposite, oval, with abrupt tip
  • leaves medium green, with smooth margin
  • leaves appear to droop on branches
  • leaf scars often encircle stems completely
  • vegetative buds small, valvate, obscured by raised leaf scar
  • flower buds an important ID feature; usually located on tips of branches
  • flower buds rounded, squat, valvate, onion-shaped with a short point, held upright on a short stem (stalk)
  • stems smooth and red-purple when young
  • flowers white or pink, in early springn (usually before leaves), showy parts are actually bracts, true flowers small and in center
  • fruit a red drupe, oval, borne in cluster, do not hang like C. kousa, not joined together
  • bark scaly, with small plates, like "alligator hide", uniformly gray-brown
  • habit is a small, low-branched tree with a flat, spreading habit


View Cornus florida page in the UConn Plant Database


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