Scientific Name
Cornus mas
The corneliancherry dogwood is a large shrub or small tree native to the European Mediterranean and the more continental countries to the north, extending as far as the France-Belgium border. It will usually grow to about 25 feet in height, though taller specimens have been recorded. Whether it takes the form of a shrub or tree is dependent on how it was pruned as it developed, but it naturally wants to branch to the ground. The Regis plant, multi-stemmed, is the largest in Colorado with a height of 19 feet and a trunk diameter of 9.8 inches.
Cornealiancherry dogwood is appreciated for its many yellow flowers that appear around the first day of spring (even earlier than Forsythia) when the plant is still leafless so the flowers have a long bloom time. The leaves look just like others in this family: they have smooth edges and grow in pairs directly across from each other on the twig. Following the veins, they all curve inward to meet at the very tip of the leaf. The branching is dense and fine-textured. Later in the growing season the very sour oblong red fruit about three-fourths inches long develops, containing a single seed. The fruits are not too decorative since they’re rather concealed by the foliage. This plant exhibits surprising adaptability to all types of soil and climate conditions.