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Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

[ Trees > Hardwoods > Understory Trees . . . ]

Forest Types: Multiple

Range

Bush-like understory tree with plate-like mature bark; simple, toothless and opposite leaves with deep veins; spring flowers with 4 prominent, white bracts; growing east of the Mississippi River.

by Michael Kuo

Habitat: Understory tree typically mixed with other hardwoods; growing east of the Great Plains.

Stature: Rarely 40 feet high; to 1 foot in diameter; spreading and bush-like.

Leaves: 3-6 inches long; pointed-oval; simple; toothless; with prominent veins that arise from the lower two-thirds of the central vein; bright green above; pale green below (scarlet in fall).

Bark: Dark reddish brown; when mature broken into distinctive, squarish plates.

Flowers: Inconspicuous, but surrounded by four large white bracts (often construed as a "flower"); fruits in clusters, reminiscent of pointy green olives, becoming scarlet with maturity.


Expanded treatment of this tree can be found at our companion site, midwestnaturalist.com, here.


(References consulted)


Frequent Mushroom Associates:

Since flowering dogwood is an understory tree in a variety of eastern forests, many mushrooms appear in its vicinity; whether these are mycorrhizal with the dogwoods or the canopy trees is up for grabs. I frequently find Daedaleopsis confragosa on the wood of flowering dogwood.

 

Cornus florida

Cornus florida

Cornus florida

Cornus florida



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2005, August). Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trees/cornus_florida.html