Identifying dogwoods


abcd	Dogwoods are flowering shrubs and trees in the small genus, "Cornus". The genus is represented by six woody species in the northeastern United States; one is a tree (Cornus florida); and the other five are shrubs. This article will cover only the shrub species. Shrubs are woody plants that reach a height (usually) of no more than 15 feet. Unlike most trees, shrubs often produce multiple stems. The five shrub species tend to be very similar in appearance. This article will help you learn how to distinguish these five species. A couple quick reminders. When trying to identify dogwood shrubs, check all characteristics. Flowers and fruits are important, but so are leaves and bark, especially the color of prior year's twigs. Are they gray, reddish or yellow-brown? When focusing on the shape of the inflorescences, check the whole plant. What is the shape of the majority of inflorescences? Some may be domed, but others may be just slightly convex.	abcd
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	Most dogwood shrubs look similar to the plant shown in Figure 1. Mature plants tend to produce many branches, each of which may support one or more flower heads (compact clusters of individual flowers). The flower clusters tend to be from 1 to 2 inches across, circular in cross-section, most often much wider than tall; that is, flat-topped or slightly convex. (Cornus racemosa often produces flower clusters that are taller than "convex", i.e., "domed".) For all species, individual flowers have four white petals. .
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	The leaves of dogwoods are oval or elliptic in shape, untoothed, and have varying numbers of veins. The veins are curved, so they never quite reach the edges of the leaves. (Though this characteristic is distinctive, it is nevertheless shared with other plant species in different plant families.) .
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	For all these species, the upper surfaces of the leaves are green, while the lower surfaces vary from pale green, to silvery or nearly white. Note that the tips of the leaves of pagoda dogwood (Figure 6) usually end in a long, slender point, while the tips of the leaves of the other species end in a shorter point. .
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	For most of these species, the leaves may vary from oval (Figure 5) to narrowly oval or narrowly elliptic (Figure 7). .
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	Round-leaved dogwood is distinctive in two ways. First, the leaves are somewhat larger, and broader, and they have more pairs of veins than the other species. The leaf shown in Figure 8 has 8 pairs of veins, compared with the other species, which typically have 3 to 5 pairs of veins. Despite its vernacular name, the leaves of this species are not exactly round. It's more accurate to say that they are broadly oval.

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	Second, the stems, branches and twigs of round-leaved dogwood have purple splotches, a character that the other species lack. .
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	Bark color varies between these five species, and may include gray, gray-brown, green-brown, red-brown and red-purple. .



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	Details of the flowers are also very important for identification. Petals are white for all species. Tips of the styles for silky dogwood (Cornus amomum) are conspicuously dilated, almost appearing "knobbed". For other species, the styles may be slightly dilated, but not to the same degree.
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	* Reference: Haines, Arthur. Flora Novae Angliae: A Manual for the Identification of Native and Naturalized Vascular Plants of New England. 2011. The New England Wild Flower Society. Yale University Press.


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