Dogwood bark can be best described as scaly in appearance. During the fall, these white bracts turn a deep reddish-purple color and the red fruit of the tree matures. The flowers are 3/8 of an inch in diameter and are greenish yellow. Growing from 15 to 30 tall and wide at maturity, this dogwood is large enough to be a yard tree, but stays small enough to be used in a garden or a larger mixed or raised bed. - Color change (green in the spring/summer to red/purple in the fall) Flowering dogwood is a small deciduous tree growing to 10 m (33 ft) high, often wider than it is tall when mature, with a trunk diameter of up to 30 cm (1 ft). The leaves are opposite and elliptical, approximately 2.5 to 5 inches long and 1.5 to 2.5 inches wide, with slightly wavy edges. The bark can be easily injured by garden tools or lawn mowers that come into contact with the trunk. Flowering dogwood tree leaves are green and oval-shaped with a pointed tip. Dogwoods are most recognized for their cross-shaped white or pink bracts. Openings in the bark can give pests and diseases an easy route to your tree where they can wreak havoc. It is relatively easy to peel the bark off of the tree, pieces at a time. Flower Phenophases: Flowering Dogwood trunk, showing the bark. The leaves are in an opposite orientation and have veins that curve out to the edge of the leaf from its midrib (the central vein of the leaf, connected to its petiole). The drupe is high in calcium and fat, making it an attractive option for many species to eat. Over the years, the bark darkens in color and develops a patch or block pattern. The major veins extend all the way to the leaf margin. Evaluate irrigation, and reduce if necessary. The showy blooms that are often referred to as flowers are bracts, which are modified leaves found in between a traditional leaf and the actual flower. Use the guide below to find out. - Dropping of fruit to the ground/consumption by birds. A Complete Guide to Digging & … Caused by the fungus Discula destructive, dogwood anthracnose attacks the tree causing masses of spores to appear on the bark. Learning how to grow dogwood trees in the landscape is simple when using the following dogwood growing tips. Flowering Dogwood Flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida ), hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 5 through 9, are native trees that bloom in spring. Flowering dogwood tree bark is dark gray. The dried root-bark is antiperiodic, astringent, diaphoretic, mildly stimulant and tonic. Fruit Phenophases: Davey uses cookies to make your experience a great one by providing us analytics so we can offer you the most relevant content. Flowering Dogwood. Still not sure what type of tree you have? Well, a dogwood tree’s “bark” is distinctive in that it is broken into tiny squares one inch or less across. Flowering dogwood tree bark is dark gray. In the late spring and early summer, its delicate white flowers offer some shade for those who choose to take a seat. While the brachts are typically white, humans have bred certain selections that bloom in pink or even red colors. Flowering dogwood is typically 5 to 15 m tall. As the above map shows in green, flowering dogwoods are prominently found on the east coast of the United States. A red dye can be made from the bark of the roots. The leaves are broad and flat, with a simple design. The top of the leaf is green with a lighter/paler green underneath. The dark, reddish-brown bark is rough and deeply checkered, making it … Sign Up for Free Tree & Landscaping Tips! Flowering dogwood trees are beautiful additions to nearly any landscape. Below are some of the need-to-know tips for caring for your flowering dogwood tree: Flowering dogwoods are vulnerable to several pests and diseases, including: When it comes to deer, don't fret; deer browsing is not common on dogwood trees! Given its location right at the entrance and the bench placed under its relatively expanisve canopy, this tree welcomes visitors to the green space. These button-like clusters are surrounded by four white brachts (petal-like structures). The flowering trees are typically single-trunk decorative trees with white spring flowers and green summer foliage that turn reddish-purple in the fall. Cultural Controls: Improve drainage. This tree’s fruit ranks #3 on the Favorite Fruits List of valuable wild fruits for our fauna. Chemical Controls: Metalaxyl (Subdue) is effective as a preventative treatment, applied at 2-3 week intervals. An ounce of this concoction was administered to patients three times a day as a tonic and fever reducer. Flowering dogwood: Maturing in late summer to early fall, the bright red fruits are loved by birds and wildlife. Flowering Dogwood - Cornus florida - How to grow Dogwood Tree - Duration: 3:38. The fruit for the flowering dogwood is poisonous to humans, so humans have interacted with the flowering dogwood in limited amounts. Noted for its 4 seasons of interest, Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood) is a large shrub or small deciduous tree adorned with a rounded to flat-topped canopy and elegant horizontal or tiered branches. That’s a valuable food, and one that is easy for beginners to identify and collect! The flowers are both conspicuous and fragrant, attracting pollinating insects. It produces red berries from early to late fall. Occasionally, it will reach a height of 40 feet with a trunk diameter of 12 to 18 inches. Historical Notes Wood has been used for tool handles, mallets, and heads of golf clubs; r ed dye is made from the bark of the tree roots. It is a very beautiful tree. It is used for tool handles, mallets, and heads of golf clubs. Davey uses cookies to make your experience a great one by providing us analytics so we can offer you the most relevant content. It has forest green foliage which emerges burgundy in spring. Getting Started. ... 2018: Pink Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida (Freedom Tree Farms) 2019: Cherokee Brave Dogwood Cornus florida 'Comco No. Some of the animals that eat the fruit of the dogwood are: northern cardinal, eastern bluebird, dark-eyed junco, tufted titmouse, American robin, northern bobwhite, wild turkey, tree swallow, raccoon, red fox, eastern chipmunk, American crow, woodpecker, common grackle, common starling, squirrel, beaver, striped skunk, white-footed mouse, rabbit, and white-tailed deer. Dogwoods come in shades of pink and white and have delicate branch patterns, making them an elegant addition near a house. Flowering Dogwood features showy clusters of white flowers with white bracts held atop the branches in mid spring. Dogwood in Early Autumn photograph by Susan E Adams, CC. Flowering dogwood is a deciduous multi-branched shrub or small tree, characterized by a rounded crown and horizontal branches that spread wider than its height. Flowering dogwood was employed medicinally by a number of native North American Indian tribes who valued it especially for its astringent and antiperiodic properties. - Falling of the leaves The flowering dogwood’s leaves decompose more rapidly than those of other species, allowing it to help improve soil conditions effectively. Many of these issues can be averted, however, with appropriate dogwood care. Itching to find out if you have a flowering dogwood tree in your yard? The blooming season is April-May. The fruit of the dogwood is small in size and shaped like an oblong sphere. The bark is smooth when the tree’s young, and then as the tree ages, the bark breaks up into small squares that make the trunk look like it’s covered in scales. Elliptical, egg- or wedge-shaped, short-stalked, hairless leaves with wavy edges, 5-7 paired lateral veins Appear untoothed to naked eye but small teeth seen with lens Nearly hairless and green from above; paler with fine hairs from below The leaves of the flowering dogwood turn a bright red in the fall. The bark … A nice scattering of Flowering Dogwood flowers in the spring woods. The Red Dogwood tree looks vibrant planted with abelias and azaleas. But when you take a closer look, there are many distinct features that set this tree apart from fellow flowering plants. Nevertheless, these highly visible white (sometimes pink or rose) flower-clusters are a distinctive feature of forests, fields, and hillsides in springtime Ohio. Each fruit grows up to approximately 1/2 inch long and is typically red in color. Unfussy in its care requirements, the dogwood readily thrives in the home landscape and grows quickly. Cornus Florida, or Flowering Dogwood, is a small, deciduous, flowering tree that may grow 15 to 25 feet tall and 4 to 6 inches in diameter. The phenology of a particular plant is the tracking of its development through the seasons. Flowering dogwood, in particular, proved suitable for making bowls, pipes, mallets, golf clubs, and tool handles. The replacements were no as effective as the quinine, which can only … However, its bark was used by Native Americans as a fever reducer and pain reliever. Flowering dogwood grows from about the mason-dixon line into the deep south territory. Historically, people made medicine from the bark. Consult a local pathologist for the latest in control measures. They are not lobed and appear to have smooth margins (though if you examine the leaf under a microscope, you can see that it is actually finely toothed). Flowering dogwood has a low-branching habit with a flattish crown. - Breaking flower buds (usually occurs before the leaf budding) Cornus florida - the flowering dogwood - is a species of flowering plant in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and commonly planted as an ornamental in residential and public areas because of its showy bracts and interesting bark structure. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies. Bark—Cornus florida: Flowering dogwood Credits: Gitta Hasing, UF/IFAS. Their size is about 3-6 inches long. Landscape Attributes. Different species will have variations on this appearance, but the generally scale-like appearance of the tree's bark makes it easy to identify. - Breaking leaf buds (when the green tip of the leaf is just barely visible) Leaf Phenophases: Trees and Shrubs Dogwoods: Range map for Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) PLEASE NOTE: A coloured Province or State means this species occurs somewhere in that Province/State. Flowering Dogwood drupes. In spring, profuse star-like blooms, 3-4 in. It has lovely flowers in spring, attractive foliage in summer and fall, colorful fruit in fall and an interesting growth habit that provides winter interest. As a decorative tree with many different appearances throughout the four seasons of New England, this particular tree is a wonderful attraction that everyone should stop to see on the Nature Walk! Well, at first glance it may look quite similar to other ornamental trees. The showy Red Dogwood tree is a lovely accent or focal tree. Fall leaf color is red to reddish-purple, although trees sited in full shade may have poor fall color. For this reason, the tree bark flaking on dogwood trees may b… Cornus florida. As a drupe fruit, dogwood fruits have two hard, pit-like (ellipsoid) seeds that are surrounded by a fleshy covering and encased in a thin skin. - Growing leaf size (maximum length and width of 15 cm by 7 cm) http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=cofl2, http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_cofl2.pdf, https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=835, http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/flowering_dogwood.htm, http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.as…, http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COFL2. Today, it is largely used by humans as an ornamental tree, but can also help improve soil. The dogwood, one of the most popular trees in the country, offers an unmatched four-season display of beauty. This particular tree also has chunks of bark missing or loosely attached, likely due to some of the harsh weather it has endured over the past few months. The bark on mature trees is broken into small square blocks that give the stem an “alligator” appearance. Dogwood bark was indeed included in one of the earliest and most common replacement for quinine, a compound tincture prepared with 40% willow bark, 30% poplar bark, and 30% dogwood bark soaked in whisky for two weeks. View our, Top 10 Tree and Plant Care Apps for Your Smartphone. A number of Native American tribes used the bark to make infusions or decoctions to treat a variety of ailments. What appears to be a single, showy flower on this tree actually is a cluster of flowers surrounded by 4, petal-like "bracts." By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies. Tree Service Experts Since 1880. - Opening of flowers The grey to grey-brown bark of the trunk is rough-textured and divided into irregular square plates. White is the usual color found in wild flowering dogwoods, however. American dogwood is a tree. If you get up close to your tree, you can also spot its true flowers, which look like greenish-yellow clusters in the center. One can tell that this tree is mature and nearly (if not completely) fully grown simply based on its bark. Contact your local arborists! The fruit tends to ripen in the early fall (September and October), at which point it is either eaten by birds or falls to the ground where it is eaten by other animals. The pointy leaves turn an outstanding brick red in the fall. Cornus florida, commonly known as the flowering dogwood, is a beautiful tree located along the perimeter of the interior of the Grove Street Cemetery. Though dogwood trees are normally easy to care for, they do have their problems on occasion. 3:38. Dogwood is both a native and introduced species across North America, especially the cooler climates. When a flowering dogwood is young, its bark is light gray and smooth. The bark is smooth when the tree’s young, and then as the tree ages, the bark breaks up into small squares that make the trunk look like it’s covered in scales. The powdered bark of the trunk was reportedly used in toothpaste and black ink, and as an aspirin-like substance. GardenClips 54,532 views. Leaves are usually approximately 5 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide. It is little used in modern herbalism. Tree Care Manual - Flowering Dogwood Vol 1, 2008 7 They are quite winter hardy but are sensitive to mechanical injury and a variety of pests and diseases. Flowering dogwood is a small deciduous tree that blooms with white, pink, or red flowers in early spring; it is the state tree of North Carolina. Cornus kousa is thought to be resistant to anthracnose and it can be planted in areas where anthracnose is a problem. thin layers of bark in the affected area. As many as 20 flowers can be contained between one set of 4 bracts. The plants may be trees or shrubs in form, but all of them offer extraordinary color and many of them flower. One can observe phenophases for the leaves, flowers, and fruits of a flowering dogwood. Comments: Found only in the southeast corner of Kansas, Cornus florida is one of our most showy native trees when in bloom. The trunk and bark also sometimes look like this. ©2020 The Davey Tree Expert Company. You may find it helpful to use a stake to keep the tree straight in its first year to avoid damaging the bark of your flowering dogwood. The tree’s wood is also used to manufacture farming tools since the wood is very strong and shock resistant. When a flowering dogwood is young, its bark is light gray and smooth. Naturally, they live in deciduous or coniferous forests; however, they are quite popular as a decorative plant and thus have been incorporated into landscape designs all across the country. Dogwood trees are small to medium-sized trees, growing between 10 and 25 ft. (3 – 7.6 m). Although birds enjoy these fruits, they are very poisonous to humans. A 10-year-old tree will stand about 5 m (16 ft) tall. As flowering Dogwood is a rich source of nectar it is ideal to grow if you want to attract butterflies, bees, Squirrels, and Songbirds to the garden. Introduction: Flowering dogwood is a beautiful native tree with four-season appeal. across (7-10 cm), appear usually before the leaves. American dogwood bark is still used today as medicine, but not very often. In the spring, these brachts open, giving the impression that the tree is covered in lots of single, 3-4" diameter white flowers. Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) Description: This shrub or tree is about 10-30' tall with ascending to spreading branches and a somewhat irregular crown. Aboriginal people also used red osier dogwood: the bark was smoked in pipes or used to make red dye and the branches were used to make baskets. Thirty different animals eat these berries and thirteen species of birds use dogwood berries in especially high quantities when available. Many of the varieties are deciduous and provide a rich fall color display followed by bright green, yellow, coral and orange revealed stems. Over the years, the bark darkens in color and develops a patch or block pattern. Perhaps the most unique thing about a flowering dogwood tree is its flowers, which...aren’t actually flowers! The inner bark, cambium, and sapwood will show discoloration. Aside from forests and cultivated lawns, these trees can live in floodplains, bluffs, ravines, and swamps. As you can see from these pictures, the twigs of the flowering dogwood are relatively slender and have a web-like orientation. The leaves are alternate, acutely veined, with a smooth to wavy margin. Privacy policy. Flowering dogwood has hard, close-grained wood. We are more than happy to help. The warty gray bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape. Characteristics: The Flowering Dogwood is a relatively small tree, reaching heights of 30 feet and trunk diameters of 8 inches. This particular tree also has chunks of bark missing or loosely attached, likely due to some of the harsh weather it has endured over the past few months. All Rights Reserved. Autumn Tree #3 (October 2016) Bark. The main attraction is the appearance of the showy white or pink flowers (actually bracts) that herald the arrival of spring. View our Privacy Policy for more information. - Unfolding of leaves as they emerge from the bud The branches are smooth-textured with scattered round lenticels (air pores). 1' (Simpson Nurseries) - white-centered, red flowers; rusty-red fall foliage. The rough bark is a reddish-brown color. Although it is not the tallest tree, its height is quite noticeable - the tree can be seen from the street, despite the brick walls surrounding the cemetery. Some of the birds that feed on the fruit of this tree include Robins, Thrushes, Red-eyed Vireo, Northern Cardinal, and the Veery. Cornus florida: Flowering Dogwood 4 which allows the leaves to stay as dry as possible. What does a flowering dogwood tree look like? How to care for flowering dogwood Below are some of the need-to-know tips for caring for your flowering dogwood … The actual, true flowers of the flowering dogwood are yellowish-green and tiny, compressed into clusters that ressemble buttons. Rachel Arnesen, Angela Pollard, Anabel Starosta. - Ripening from green to bright red Dark green leaves, 3 to 6 inches long, turn an attractive red in fall. The flower of the Cornus florida is the official state flower of North Carolina and Virginia. As a result, it is sometimes planted in urban forestry projects. Dogwood flowers are typically white, but some species produce yellow, pale red or pink blossoms. The leaves of this tree have ovate shape and a simple morphology. On any given branch, there are many twigs and each has several bud locations. As a result, when this tree does bloom it will be fairly densely packed with blossoms. The flowers are said to have similar properties. Subscribe to the "The Sapling" on the Davey Blog for the latest tips to keep your outdoor space in tip-top shape throughout the year. Its powdered bark was made into toothpaste and the root bark provided a scarlet dye. Unfortunately, this tree is susceptible to a number of insect and disease problems.