45 mostly-wooded acres feature an archery range, hiking trail and a section of ADA-accessible trail adjacent to the Camdenton Conservation Service Center office, and an 80-foot tall fire tower that vi
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Scientific Name
Cornus florida
Family
Cornaceae (dogwoods)
Description
Flowering dogwood is a beautiful shrub to small tree with a straggling, spreading crown. Missouri’s official state tree, it presents lovely boughs of white inflorescences in springtime forests. In fall it is ornamental with bright red fruits and deep red, purple, and orange foliage.
Leaves are opposite, simple, egg-shaped, 3–5 inches long, dark green, with slightly wavy edges.
Bark is dark gray to brown with thin, squarish plates.
Twigs are flexible, slender, reddish-gray to purplish, or greenish with red dots, hairy, with flower buds terminal. Leaf buds are compressed and oval.
Flowers are small, in inflorescences (flower clusters) of 25–30, surrounded by 4 large, white (sometimes pink) petal-like bracts, and appear in early spring before the leaves. Bracts are 1¼–2½ inches long and are notched at the tip. Blooms mid-April to mid-May.
Fruits are scarlet, egg-shaped berries (drupes), ½ inch long, in clusters of 2–6, appearing August–November.
Similar species: Missouri has 5 species in the genus Cornus. Flowering dogwood is identified by its combination of opposite leaves, dense flowerheads with 4 showy bracts, and oval red fruits.
Size
At maturity, to 40 feet tall; to 35 feet wide.
Where To Find
Mostly in the Ozarks, but also present north of the Missouri River, particularly in the eastern half of the state. Cultivated statewide.
Habitat and Conservation
Found along wooded slopes, ravines, along bluffs, upland ridges, and successional fields; less common on glades, valleys, and low ground; prefers well-drained, acid-based soils and shady locations.
A common understory tree, especially in the Ozarks. Missouri’s official state tree, it presents lovely boughs of white inflorescences (flower clusters) in our springtime forests.
Status
Native Missouri small tree or shrub. Very popular native landscaping plant, offering high ornamental and wildlife value. As Missouri's official state tree, it contributes a sense of pride, too.
Human Connections
Flowering dogwood was officially declared Missouri's state tree in 1955. It delights us with its beauty all year long, with its clouds of white flowers visible in springtime woodlands, its attractive green midsummer foliage, its brilliant red or orange leaves and bright red berries in fall, and its interesting bark in winter.
Flowering dogwood and its many cultivars are favorite small, spring-flowering trees for landscaping. Historically, the plant has been used to make inks and dyes as well as medicine. The wood has been used for golf club heads and even skewers for cooking.
Flowering dogwood and other blooming understory trees such as redbud beautify our woodlands in spring, lifting our hearts and inspiring tourism. Dogwoods also contribute greatly to fall color, and fall color is also good for Missouri tourism.
You know you are progressing in your knowledge of plants when you can see that the structures that look like petals in dogwood are not petals at all, and that they instead are petal-like modified leaves called bracts that are arranged beneath a cluster of rather inconspicuous flowers.
Folklorist Vance Randolph recorded that old-time Ozarkers told the story that the cross that was used to crucify Jesus was made of dogwood (which was supposed to have commonly grown as tall as a large tree at the time of Christ), and that he cursed the species for its role in his death, causing it to grow “stunted and twisted, unfit for any kind of lumber.” Additionally, the tale points to various parts of the floral anatomy that would seem to sync up with elements of the story: the cluster of flowers at the center that fancifully resembles a crown of thorns, the shallow notches at the tip of the white bracts representing nail holes with red or brown “bloodstains,” and so on. The story is kept alive on postcards, placards, and other gift items, and in the 21st century, memes. Flowering dogwood, by the way, is native only to eastern North America and does not occur in the Old World except where it has been planted as an ornamental. Randolph also noted that a competing Ozark folk tale maintained that it was the willow, not the dogwood, that was the guilty, accursed tree.
Ecosystem Connections
The fruits are eaten by squirrels and white-tailed deer and are a preferred food for wild turkey and at least 28 other species of birds, including northern bobwhite and many types of songbirds.
As an understory and forest border tree, dogwood provides nesting space, food, and cover for many mammals and birds.
Dogwoods are larval food plants for several groups of butterflies and moths, including the spring azure, dogwood thyatirid, one-spotted variant, friendly probole, and false crocus geometer. Many other insects eat or drink sap from the leaves. These insects, in turn, become food for birds and other insect-eating animals.
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Flowering dogwood, Cornus florida.
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Paul Nelson
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MDC Staff
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The white bracts of flowering dogwood are showy, while the cluster of yellowish, small flowers at their center are not.
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We enjoy the fall leaf color and red berries of flowering dogwood, as well as its springtime flowers.
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MDC Staff
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Flowering dogwood starts turning color in early fall.
Credit
Jim Rathert
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Flowering dogwood is one of our standout species for fall color.
Credit
Jim Rathert
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The leaves of flowering dogwood may become a variety of yellow, orange, pink, red, and maroon, depending on growing conditions, weather patterns, stresses, and the plant’s own genetics.
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Jim Rathert
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In winter, you can identify flowering dogwoods by their purplish twigs and distinctive round, stalked, terminal flower buds. Also, the mature small trees have bark with squarish plates.
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Julianna Schroeder
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Flowering Dogwood
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Flowering dogwood is a common understory tree in Ozark woodlands. It is a beautiful tree in every season.
Credit
Jim Rathert
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Flowering dogwood contributes greatly to our annual fall color display.
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Jim Rathert
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If you examine the underside of a flowering dogwood "flower," you will see there is no calyx of sepals at what you would think is the base of the flower. The white petal-like structures are actually modified leaves called bracts.
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Missouri’s official state tree provides beautiful fall color as well as lovely spring flowers.
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Jennifer Behnken
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Similar Species
Similar Species
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Where to See Species
Rockwoods Range is a premium stop for outdoor adventurers. The area is mostly forested, but you'll also encounter glades and other natural habitats.
Jamesport Community Lake offers fishing in Daviess County, approximately one mile north of Jamesport on Highway 190, then two miles west on Route RA.
Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area is in east-central Benton and west-central Morgan counties.
About Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines in Missouri
There are no sharp dividing lines between trees, shrubs, and woody vines, or even between woody and nonwoody plants. “Wood” is a type of tissue made of cellulose and lignin that many plants develop as they mature — whether they are “woody” or not. Trees are woody plants over 13 feet tall with a single trunk. Shrubs are less than 13 feet tall, with multiple stems. Vines require support or else sprawl over the ground.