Flowering dogwood or Kousa dogwood: how to tell them apart?
Flowering dogwood and Kousa dogwood look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
Flowering dogwood
Cornus florida
Kousa dogwood
Cornus kousa
Kousa dogwood has pointed white bracts and flowers after the leaves emerge, with round pink fruits clustered like a small raspberry, whereas flowering dogwood has bracts notched at the tip and flowers before the leaves, with separate oval red fruits.
🍃 Leaves
Deciduous, opposite, ovate, with the arching veins typical of dogwoods, purplish-red in autumn
Deciduous, ovate, bright green, turning purplish-red in autumn
🌸 Flowers
Tiny and greenish, but surrounded by four large white or pink cross-shaped bracts, very spectacular
Tiny, surrounded by four large star-shaped white (sometimes pink) bracts, very conspicuous
🍎 Fruits
Bright red ovoid drupes in clusters, very ornamental in autumn
Large round pink-red fruits with a granular surface, edible, resembling strawberries
🪵 Bark
Brown-grey, cracking into small square plates with age
Brown-grey, flaking in plates with age on old specimens
📏 Size
3 to 6 m tall
4 to 8 m tall
🗺️ Habitat
Borders and woodland edges, cool, acid to neutral soil, in a position sheltered from drying winds
Planted as a specimen in ornamental gardens for its flowering and autumn colour
🔎 And from the Kousa dogwood side
Flowering dogwood has white bracts notched (as if pinched) at the tip and flowers early in spring before the leaves appear, whereas kousa dogwood has pointed bracts and flowers later, once the leaves are already developed.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.