Cornus alba L.

Tatarian Dogwood

Spreading deciduous shrub to about 3 m tall. New growth becoming red in the autumn and winter. Leaves mostly 5-7 cm long, ovate to elliptic, waxy-blue below and with 5-6 vein pairs. Flowers in narrow clusters; late spring to early summer. Fruit white to pale blue.

Plants may be cut back every few years to encourage the colourful shoots.

N China, Korea, Siberia.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Cornaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

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Distribution map

Cornus alba 'Elegantissima'

Leaves with an irregular creamy margin, the winter stems red. Origin uncertain but available since 1900.

Cornus alba 'Sibirica'

Siberian Dogwood, has stems dark pinkish red, leaves rounder and with a shorter tip than the type.

Cornus alba 'Spaethii'

Leaves bronze at first, edges yellow. Originated at the Spaeth Nsy at Rixdorf, Berlin, on a stem of typical C. alba, just below a dead variegated graft.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Asteranae
order      Cornales
family       Cornaceae
genus        Cornus L.