Leaf
Famartin, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Flowering dogwood
Cornus florida L.
Also known as: American dogwood, Eastern flowering dogwood
Family: Cornaceae
3 to 6 m tall
Borders and woodland edges, cool, acid to neutral soil, in a position sheltered from drying winds
Flowering: April – May
Part shade
Full sun
Hardy to about -25°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
What looks like four large white petals is not actually the flower itself: they are bracts, and the true flowers, tiny and greenish, are grouped in a small bud at their centre. 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
🌸 Flowers
Tiny and greenish, but surrounded by four large white or pink cross-shaped bracts, very spectacular
🍎 Fruits
Bright red ovoid drupes in clusters, very ornamental in autumn
🪵 Bark
Brown-grey, cracking into small square plates with age
🗺️ Distribution
Native to eastern North America; introduced to Europe as an ornamental spring shrub
🐝 Value for pollinators
Flowers grouped at the centre of the bracts, rich in honey, visited by many insects
✂️ Horticultural uses
Planted as a specimen for its flowering in large white or pink bracts, unlike the other dogwoods grown for their bark or fruits
⚠️ Look-alike species
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.
🌿 Other Cornaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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