Cornus alternifolia L.f.

TSO logo

Sponsor this page

For information about how you could sponsor this page, see How You Can Help

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cornus alternifolia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-alternifolia/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Genus

Common Names

  • Alternate-leaved Dogwood
  • Blue (fruited) Dogwood
  • Cornouiller à feuilles alternes
  • Green Osier
  • Pagoda Dogwood
  • Pigeonberry

Synonyms

  • Bothrocaryum alternifolium (Linnaeus f.) Pojarkova
  • Cornus alterna Marshall
  • Swida alternifolia (L.f.) Small

Glossary

alternate
Attached singly along the axis not in pairs or whorls.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cornus alternifolia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-alternifolia/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Shrub or tree to 12 m. Bark corky, with rectangular plates. Branchlets yellowish-green to green or reddish-brown, with pale trichomes at first, glabrous, lenticels lenticular; pith white. Leaves arranged alternately, deciduous, 4–12 × 2.3–7 cm, chartaceous, narrowly to broadly ovate or obovate, base cuneate to rounded, upper surface dull green, lower surface yellowish green, papillose, with appressed trichomes, five to six secondary veins on each side of the midvein, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate; petiole to 2–5 cm long. Inflorescence flat, cymose, 50–100-flowered, 3–15 cm diameter, pedicels yellow green, later red, pubescent; bracts minute, non-petal-like. Flowers hermaphrodite, petals ~0.3–0.4 cm long. Fruits globose, 0.5–0.8 cm diameter, bluish-black at maturity, with one stone, with cavity at apex. Flowering April to June, fruiting June to August (North America). (Bean 1976a; Wann 2011; Murrell 2015).

Distribution  Canada Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec United States Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana., Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Habitat Broadleaved deciduous forests, usually on mesic or dry-mesic, loamy soils and rocky slopes between 10 and 2000 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 3-7

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Native of eastern North America, Cornus alternifolia was introduced to Britain in 1760 (Bean 1976); its alternate leaves are a useful guide to identification. This multistemmed shrub or small tree grows well in both sunny and woodland conditions, though afternoon shade is helpful in particularly hot sites. It has a preference for slightly acidic soils, that are moist throughout the year and thrives in areas with cool summer temperatures (Cappiello & Shadow 2005). It usually has several erect stems, but can be pruned to form a small tree, when the flat-topped horizontal branches are held to best advantage; if left unpruned it will form a wide, flat-topped mound.

Cold stratification for three to five months has good seed germination rates. Up to 60% of softwood cuttings root if kept under fog and treated with 6000 ppm K-IBA. Cultivars are grafted onto C. alternifolia and C. controversa rootstock (Cappiello & Shadow 2005).

This dogwood species is sometimes greatly susceptible to stem canker. As no chemical controls are available, keeping plants in good condition is the best solution (Cappiello & Shadow 2005).


'Argentea'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus alternifolia 'Variegata'

Awards
AGM

RHS Hardiness Rating: H6

A widely grown, less vigorous cultivar introduced by Temple and Beard, U.S.A., before 1900. Leaves, small with silvery-cream edges. According to Bean (1976) ‘this is one of the handsomest of variegated shrubs; as in the type, the branches are produced in tiers, making a spreading, flat-topped shrub’. Needs plenty of moisture and is best grown in acidic soils (Gayraud 2013).

A similar cultivar is ‘Silver Giant’, introduced by Junker’s Nursery, UK, as a sport of ‘Argentea’, having larger, greyish-green leaves that may be slightly pink-edged (Gayraud 2013, Hatch 2018–2020, Junker’s Nursery 2021). Its larger leaves give it more vigour than ‘Argentea’, according to Gayraud.

‘Andre Gayraud’ is another sport from ‘Argentea’, with larger leaves that may be plain green, green with white margins or green with pink margins. It was selected by Danilo Bonacchi of San Pierino Casa al Vescova, near Pistoia, Italy, and is named after André Gayraud, Cornus enthusiast and author of a useful guide to the genus (Gayraud 2013).

‘Moonlight’ is similar to ‘Argentea’, with creamy-white variegation, sometimes flushed pink (Junker’s Nursery 2021).