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Cornus californica C.A.Mey.

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Kindly sponsored by
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 californica' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-californica/). Accessed 2026-07-11.

Family

  • Cornaceae

Genus

Common Names

  • Western Dogwood

Synonyms

  • Cornus occidentalis Cov.
  • Cornus pubescens Nutt. (nom. illeg.), not Willd.
  • Cornus sericea subsp. occidentalis (Torr. & A.Gray) Fosberg
  • Cornus torreyi S.Watson

Glossary

appressed
Lying flat against an object.
hirsute
Covered in rough coarse hairs.
hybrid
Plant originating from the cross-fertilisation of genetically distinct individuals (e.g. two species or two subspecies).
included
(botanical) Contained within another part or organ.
sensu lato
(s.l.) In the broad sense.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
Deasy, M., Crowley, D., Aldridge, J. & Chişu, R. (2026), 'Cornus californica' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-californica/). Accessed 2026-07-11.

Cornus californica

Ridged immature fruits of Cornus californica (University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, Vancouver, June 2023). Image John Grimshaw.

Deciduous shrub to 3 m. Bark somewhat warty, green to red or brown. Branchlets green, red, or dark red to brown, pubescent at first, lenticels apparent on older growth, pith white. Leaves 5–12 × 2–6 cm, chartaceous, ovate, base cuneate to rounded, upper surface green, with sparse, appressed pubescence, lower surface whitish, pubescent with erect trichomes, those along veins brown, tufts of erect trichomes in vein axils, six to seven secondary veins on each side of the midvein, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole to 1–2 cm long. Inflorescence cymose, 3–6 cm diameter, peduncle 20–40 mm, pedicels dark red. Flowers hermaphrodite, sepals 0.3–0.7 cm, petals to ~0.4 cm long. Fruit a white drupe, globose, 0.8 cm diameter, with one stone, the ridged on the edges; stone laterally compressed, 0.4–0.5 × 0.5–0.7 cm. Flowering May to June and September to October, fruiting August to October (North America). (Murrell & Poindexter 2015; Watson 1876).

Distribution  Canada British Columbia United States Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington

Habitat Wet meadows, bogs, marshes, lake shores, stream and river banks between 0 and 2000 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 6-7

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Conservation status Not evaluated (NE)

Taxonomic note C. californica C.A.Mey. (1845) is the earliest published name for the species treated in the Flora of North America as C. occidentalis and by POWO (19/12/2025) as C. torreyi. The name C. californica has in the past commonly been used for plants with smooth stones, differing from typical C. occidentalis in which the stones are distinctively ridged (Rickett 1944). Rickett attributed such instances to hybridisation with C. sericea, which explains why the name is sometimes seen expressed as a nothospecies (Cornus × californica) – this, however, implies a circumscription that differs from that adopted in TSO. Some treatments – e.g. Shevock (2012) for the Jepson eFlora – go even further in placing C. californica in synonymy with C. sericea subsp. sericea, on account of these (atypically) smooth-stoned specimens, though this view is not generally held.

Cornus californica is native to the Pacific coast of North America, from British Columbia south to California, and closely related to C. sericea, of which it effectively represents an hirsute form. The characteristic wooliness of the leaf undersides arises from the erect trichomes (appressed in C. sericea). Flowering is in late May and June. The ridged character of the fruit is very distinctive (Watson 1876).

The species has at various times been included within Cornus sericea sensu lato. Rickett (1944) reinstated it at species rank as C. occidentalis, this position being adopted by the Flora of North America, and supported by subsequent molecular work (Murrell & Poindexter 2015; Du et al. 2023). In practice, the two taxa are difficult to separate, a situation exacerbated by the existence of numerous hybrid or intermediate forms where the ranges overlap. The taxonomic situation is extremely complex, and there is a pressing need for a comprehensive monographic treatment.

In his entry for C. occidentalis, Bean (1976) reported the species as being in cultivation by 1874, but neither the provenance, nor the name under which it was introduced are clear. Zöschen Baumschule was offering C. pubescens by 1889, from seed collected in British Columbia, and material under that name was already present in some German botanic gardens at that date (Dieck 1889). J.C. Raulston was surprised to find it growing (as C. torreyi) in the Madrid Botanical Garden on a visit there in 1988 (Raulston 1993).

Cornus californica

Green young stems of Cornus californica (University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, Vancouver, June 2023). Image John Grimshaw.

'Mason'

A consistently flowering and fruiting cultivar suited to conditions in the northern Pacific states (proven in western Oregon), introduced in 1992 by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Oregon Agriculture Experiment Station and the Washington Agriculture Research Center. A multistemmed, upright, and moderately open 3–5 meters in height, 4 m in width. Selected for vigour, stem density, rapid growth rate, and foliage appearance, originating as cuttings from a single, wild shrub growing in Mason County, Washington (Flessner 2000).

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