Cornus florida seed
LATIN NAME: CORNUS FLORIDA
COMMON NAME: Flowering Dogwood
In the understorey of the eastern American woods, the flowering dogwood grows as a small, rounded, deciduous tree with the oval, pointed, dark-green leaves and the small clusters of true flowers surrounded by four large, white or pink, petal-like bracts that open in the late spring, the glossy red fruits following in the autumn. The herb steadily grows into a rounded crown, with a mature height of 5-10 metres. It is content in the light shade or the sun and the moist, rich ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The flowering dogwood occupies a steady place in the studies of the small trees of the eastern woodlands, its white bracts and its scarlet fruits keeping it in view in the work on the understorey trees of the American forest and the spring display trees of the temperate garden. The research looks at the way the four bracts open around the tight flower cluster, the red fruits ripen and scatter, and the seed biology of the hard, grooved seeds.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
In the late-spring garden, the flowering dogwood spreads the white or pink bracts in the shaded border and lights the wood edge before the summer canopy closes. The red fruits feed the birds through the autumn, and the tree makes the fine specimen, the woodland-garden tree and the classic flowering tree of the mild, acid garden. It is a tree for the sheltered, moist, rich and well-drained place.
To grow the Flowering Dogwood from seed, clean the seeds from the red fruits and give them a cold, moist spell.
Clean the seeds from the red fruits and give them a cold, moist spell, and keep the young dogwoods in the shaded, sheltered spot. The white bracts open with the late spring.
LATIN NAME: Cornus florida
COMMON NAME: Flowering Dogwood, American Dogwood, Eastern Flowering Dogwood
The flowering dogwood is one of the most beloved trees of North America, and its spring display of white bloom is a landmark of the eastern spring. Growth leads to a rosette of leaves, to fifty centimetres. It is a tree of great beauty and great history, and it is the state tree of several American states.
The flowering dogwood belongs to the dogwood family, Cornaceae, and it is native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. It is commonly planted as an ornamental, and it has been beloved in America for generations, a symbol of the eastern spring.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The flowering dogwood has a genuine and rich place in both horticultural and botanical research. It is one of the most widely planted ornamental trees of North America, and it has been studied extensively in horticulture, with researchers examining its cultivation, its varieties and its flowering, and many garden cultivars have been selected from it, prized for their white and pink bloom and their autumn colour. The tree has also been studied in plant pathology, since it has suffered from diseases in recent decades, and researchers have studied the diseases that affect it and the breeding of resistant trees, making it a subject of real interest in tree health research. The species has also been studied in ecology for its role in the eastern forests of America, and its red berries have been studied for their value to birds. For a tree of such beloved beauty, the flowering dogwood has a rich and continuing record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Ecologically, the flowering dogwood is a generous tree of the eastern forest. Its spring flowers feed bees and other pollinators, its red berries feed birds and small mammals, and its broad, leafy crown gives shelter, while it is a beloved and valuable member of the eastern American forest.
Its economic value lies mainly in horticulture. It is one of the most widely planted ornamental trees of North America, prized for its spring bloom, its autumn colour and its red berries, and it is grown in gardens, parks and streets across the region, while its hard, fine-grained wood has also been used for small work and tool handles. For a grower, the flowering dogwood is a valuable and rewarding tree, and for a gardener it brings the white bloom of the eastern spring. The seeds need a little cold — give them a spell in the fridge in damp compost, then sow them in a pot of moist, free-draining compost, keep them lightly watered, and theyll sprout steadily over a few weeks, growing on into a tree that will one day light up the spring garden.
Cornus florida Rubra produces a blanket of large, rich pink flower bracts in June. These can be followed by rosy-pink ornamental fruits. The shiny ovate foliage is dark green and gives way to attractive orange and red autumn colours.
This Pink Flowering Japanese Dogwood is a lovely small tree or large shrub with almost tabulate branches that create a very attractive form. Cornus florida Rubra has the RHS Award of Garden Merit and will grow well in any sunny or partially sunny position given well drained soil, reaching 4×3 metres in 20 years.