Flowering Dogwood Facts

The flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is a deciduous hardwood tree and prized landscape plant with long-lasting floral displays and bright red fruit. Its fall foliage is a showy scarlet. Flowering dogwood is the official state tree of Virginia and Missouri, and the state flower of Missouri.

Native Range

• Flowering dogwoods are native to eastern North America from Ontario and Maine in the north to Florida and Texas in the south and as far west as Oklahoma.

Size

• Flowering dogwoods will grow 20 to 35 feet tall and have a spread of 20 to 30 feet in diameter.

Habitat

• The flowering dogwood likes rich, well-draining soils and may not live in areas where the soil stays wet. It grows in both full shade and full sun, but some amount of shade is better.

Flowers

• Flowering dogwoods produce small bunches of clustered yellow flowers in the middle of modified oval bracts that are usually white or pink. After pollination, the flowers are replaced by a red, berrylike fruit.

Uses

• Flowering dogwoods are very popular and showy landscape or sidewalk trees. They often are kept much smaller than their potential, usually under 15 feet tall.