Cornus bretschneideri L.Henry

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Hugh and Judy Johnson

Credits

Martin Deasy, Dan Crowley, Jack Aldridge & Răzvan Chişu (2026)

Recommended citation
Deasy, M., Crowley, D., Aldridge, J. & Chişu, R. (2026), 'Cornus bretschneideri' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-bretschneideri/). Accessed 2026-07-18.

Family

Cornaceae

Genus

Cornus
subgen. Thelycrania

Common Names

sha lai

Synonyms

Swida bretschneideri (L.Henry) Soják
Cornus aspera Wangerin
Cornus bretschneideri var. gracilis Wangerin
Cornus bretschneideri var. crispa W.P.Fang & W.K.Hu

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

USDA: United States Department of Agriculture.
pubescence: Hairiness.

References

Credits

Martin Deasy, Dan Crowley, Jack Aldridge & Răzvan Chişu (2026)

Recommended citation
Deasy, M., Crowley, D., Aldridge, J. & Chişu, R. (2026), 'Cornus bretschneideri' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-bretschneideri/). Accessed 2026-07-18.

Cornus bretschneideri in cultivation at Arboretum Kalmthout, Belgium; the vase-shaped form of this specimen is the result of pruning to lift the crown (15 April 2012). Image Guillaume Mamdy.

Deciduous shrubs or small trees, 1–6 m tall with purplish-red bark. Young branches reddish, rounded, sparsely grey-white pubescent; older branches light yellow, glabrous; leaves ovate, elliptic-ovate, or oblong, 5–8.5 × 2.5–6 cm, chartaceous, grey-white or glaucous beneath, densely papillose and pubescent with appressed white hairs or occasionally dense yellowish-brown curly hairs, lateral veins 5–6(–7) with long white hairs in axils, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex cuspidate to acuminate; inflorescence a corymbose cyme 4.5–6 cm wide with grey-white pubescence, rarely with dense curly hairs; flowers white, 5.5–7 mm across; calyx teeth triangular, equal to or slightly longer than disk; stamens longer than petals; anthers yellowish-white; style cylindrical, 2.3–2.6 mm; stigma capitate, broader than style. Fruit bluish-black or black, subglobose, 4–5 mm in diam.; stones inconspicuously ribbed. Flowers Jun–Jul, fruits Aug–Sep. (Xiang & Boufford 2005).

Distribution China

Habitat Forests, thickets, slopes, 600–2300 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 5-8

Taxonomic note Two varieties are recognised in Flora of China, distinguished by the character of the pubescence, dense and curly in var. crispa (W.P.Fang & W.K.Hu) W.P.Fang & W.K.Hu.

Cornus bretschneideri is one of a group of very similar western Chinese dogwoods with white cymose inflorescences and black fruits, discussed more fully in the entry for Cornus scabrida. Louis Henry’s original description noted the striking yellow stems, described as ‘clear olive-green tinged with yellow – almost lemon yellow – with reddish tips’ (Henry 1899, 1910), though Xiang & Boufford (2005) give the colour of the young stems as red, the older branches light yellow.

Cornus bretschneideri was introduced to cultivation by the Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Paris in 1880–1881, from plants raised from Chinese seed sent by the doctor and polymath Emil Bretschneider (1833–1901), remembered for his writings on early European botanical encounters with the Chinese flora (Bretschneider 1898). Seed from the Muséum was sent to the United States in 1913 under PI 35149 (USDA Bureau of Plant Industry 1915); in Germany the species was offered by Hesse from 1916 (Hesse Baumschulen 1916). The species is mainly represented in contemporary cultivation by northern China collections from Shanxi, notably NACPEC 02017 (collected in 2002). The Sir Harold Hillier Garden used to grow material collected in Hebei in 1993, no longer in the collection.

Leaves of Cornus bretschneideri are ovate, elliptic-ovate or oblong, 5–8.5 × 2.5–6 cm, chartaceous, with very pronounced veins. This specimen at Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium was sourced from Beijing Botanic Garden (Acc. 19922978–51; 14 September 2018). Image Guillaume Mamdy.

The underside of the leaves of Cornus bretschneideri are grey-white or glaucous, densely papillose and pubescent with appressed white hairs. Here pictured at Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium (Acc. 19922978–51; 14 September 2018). Image Guillaume Mamdy.

Louis Henry's original description of Cornus bretschneideri noted the striking yellow stems, described as 'clear olive-green tinged with yellow – almost lemon yellow – with reddish tips'. Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium (Acc. 19922978–51; 14 September 2018) Image Guillaume Mamdy.

The inflorescence of Cornus bretschneideri is a corymbose cyme 4.5–6 cm wide, with grey-white pubescence (Acc. 19922978–51, Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium; 14 September 2018). Image Guillaume Mamdy.

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