Cornus iberica
Sponsor
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 iberica' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Synonyms
- Thelycrania iberica (Woronow) Pojark.
- Thelycrania armassica Sanadze
- Swida iberica (Woronow) Pojark. ex Grossh.
- Thelycrania australis var. iberica (Woronow) Sanadze
Other taxa in genus
- Cornus alba
- Cornus alternifolia
- Cornus amomum
- Cornus × arnoldiana
- Cornus asperifolia
- Cornus bretschneideri
- Cornus californica
- Cornus canadensis
- Cornus capitata
- Cornus chinensis
- Cornus controversa
- Cornus coreana
- Cornus darvasica
- Cornus disciflora
- Cornus drummondii
- Cornus × dunbarii
- Cornus elliptica
- Cornus × elwinortonii
- Cornus excelsa
- Cornus eydeana
- Cornus florida
- Cornus florida Cultivars A-G
- Cornus florida Cultivars H-M
- Cornus florida Cultivars N-R
- Cornus florida Cultivars S-Z
- Cornus foemina
- Cornus glabrata
- Cornus × haddenii
- Cornus hemsleyi
- Cornus hongkongensis
- Cornus hongkongensis hybrids
- Cornus × horseyi
- Cornus kousa
- Cornus kousa Cultivars A-D
- Cornus kousa Cultivars E-I
- Cornus kousa Cultivars J-L
- Cornus kousa Cultivars M-R
- Cornus kousa Cultivars S-Z
- Cornus macrophylla
- Cornus mas
- Cornus mas Cultivars A-G
- Cornus mas Cultivars H-M
- Cornus mas Cultivars N-R
- Cornus mas Cultivars S-Z
- Cornus 'Mountain Moon'
- Cornus multinervosa
- Cornus nuttallii
- Cornus obliqua
- Cornus oblonga
- Cornus officinalis
- Cornus poliophylla
- Cornus 'Pumila'
- Cornus quinquenervis
- Cornus racemosa
- Cornus rugosa
- Cornus × rutgersensis
- Cornus sanguinea
- Cornus scabrida
- Cornus sericea
- Cornus sessilis
- Cornus × slavinii
- Cornus suecica
- Cornus sunhangii
- Cornus × transamericana
- Cornus unalaschkensis
- Cornus walteri
- Cornus wardiana
- Cornus wilsoniana
Deciduous shrub or small tree to 4 m. Bark grey to brown. Branchlets brownish-green, densely pubescent with appressed hairs, becoming glabrous or nearly so. Leaves 2.5–8 × 1.1–3.5 cm, chartaceous, oblong-elliptic, base cuneate, upper surface dark green, lower surface pale green, both surfaces pubescent with short, appressed, trichomes when young, upper surface becoming glabrous or nearly so, (3–)4 secondary veins on each side of the midvein, margins entire, apex mucronate to shortly acuminate; petiole to 1.5 cm long. Inflorescences terminal, corymbose cymes, 4–6 cm diameter, pedicels appressed pubescent; floral bracts minute, falling before anthesis. Flowers hermaphrodite, with petals 0.5–0.65 cm long. Fruits globose, 0.45–0.65 cm diameter, black. Flowering June, fruiting September (Georgia). (Woronow 1933; Shishkin 1974).
Distribution Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Iran Presence uncertain
Habitat Ravines, forests and forest edges.
USDA Hardiness Zone 7-8
RHS Hardiness Rating H5
Conservation status Data deficient (DD)
Native to the Caucasus, where it grows in the mountains in shrubby thickets, Cornus iberica is a close relative of C. sanguinea (Du et al. 2023), from which it is distinguished by its brown (not red) first-year shoots, and its shiny, dark green, sometimes subcoriaceous leaves with long-acuminate apices. It shares with C. sanguinea subsp. australis the appressed, bipartite hairs beneath the leaves, but the latter has more (four to five) pairs of lateral veins, and brighter green leaves (Shishkin 1974).
Apart from its red autumnal colouring, the species is of limited horticultural interest, found in botanic gardens, and a few specialist collections (e.g. at Caerhays Castle, Cornwall, UK). The quality of foliage does, however, lends it a more distinguished appearance than its close relatives in C. sanguinea. The epithet refers to the ‘other’ Iberia – i.e. Caucasian Iberia between the Black and Caspian Seas, not the Western European peninsula.
