Cornus mas Cultivars N-R

Nana Group

This name encompasses dwarf forms of C. mas grown as garden varieties in Europe since at least the mid 1870s, introduced to the United States about fifty years later. Carrière in 1879 described two such forms under var. nana. One was originally derived from a yellow-fruited form, but was itself non-flowering, short-trunked and branched ‘excessively’ to form an attractive spherical bush. The other, obtained in 1876, was derived from the typical red-fruited form, the shoots red-tinged (particularly near the leaf insertions) and softly hairy (Carrière 1879). Carrière’s varietal name is probably invalid, since he did not specify which of the two forms was his type. Schneider (1912) described f. nana as a new form, based on the commercial stock of Simon Louis Frères, in whose catalogues the plant is listed since the mid 1870s (Simon Louis Frères 1874). Dwarf forms of C. mas appear not have been known in the United States before 1925, when grafted plants were imported to the Arnold Arboretum from Kew (these died and were reintroduced from the same source). The dwarf character of this material appears to have been marginal, the plants reported to ‘grow too large’ (Wyman 1960).

Low-growing clones could be considered for ground-cover purposes (MacKenzie 1997).

'Nihznyi'

A yellow-fruited Ukrainian cultivar (Klimenko 2004).

Flask-shaped yellow fruits of Cornus mas 'Nihznyi' ('Ніжний'). Image Svetlana Klymenko.

'Nikolka'

A very early-ripening (late July–early August) hybrid with dark-red, pear-shaped fruits, juicy and with good flavour (Pirc 2015; Klymenko & Ilyinska 2023).

The fruits of Cornus mas 'Nikolka' ('Ніколка') are well flavoured. Image Svetlana Klymenko.

'Ntoulia 1'

Selected in 2011 from open-pollinated seeds originating in northern Greece by Konstantinos Ntoulias. Upright in habit, but not vigorous (Sotiropoulos et al. 2011).

'Ntoulia 2'

Upright but not vigorous, selected by Konstantinos Ntoulias from the same 2011 seed batch as ‘Ntoulia 1’. Less prolific, and with smaller fruits than ‘Ntoulia 1’, but with higher antioxidant and phenol concentrations (Sotiropoulos et al. 2011).

'Olena'

A red-fruited early-ripening cultivar from Ukraine, selected from freely-pollinated seedlings in 1975 (Klymenko & Ilyinska 2023).

'Öszi Tüz'

Registered as a variety in Hungary by the Magyar Agrár- és Élettudományi Egyetem (Hungarian University of Agricultural and life Sciences) in 2002 (CPVO 14/10/2025). The name translates as ‘Autumn Fire’.

'P5'

A Polish selection with pear-shaped, very good-tasting fruits borne in profusion; ripening mid–late August; selected by S. Maksymiuk (Pirc 2015).

'Paczoski'

Elongated or drop-shaped red fruits ripening mid September–late October; introduced by Bolestraszyce Arboretum, Poland (Pirc 2015).

'Pancharevo'

Large tart, oval fruits resembling ‘Jolico’, ripening late August-mid September. A Bulgarian selection from Pancharevo, Sofia, introduced by A. Koljaschev (Pirc 2015). Another Bulgarian cultivar, the cylindrical-fruited ‘Pancharevsky’ (Klimenko 2004), is close in name, but differs in its description.

'Pancharevsky'

A Bulgarian selection with cylindrical fruits, introduced by Tsolo Nagov, Sortovi Semena i Posadchen Material (Klimenko 2004); the cultivar name is close to ‘Pancharevo’, but the description differs.

'Pervenets'

A frost-hardy seedling selection, but rather weak, needing pruning for good fruiting. Fruits oval to pear-shaped, ripening in early–mid August (Pirc 2015).

'Prezent'

A sport of ‘Yantarni’ with red-flecked yellow fruit (S. Klymenko, pers. comm. 2026).

Red-flecked variegation in the yellow fruits of Cornus mas 'Prezent' ('Презент'). Image Svetlana Klymenko.

Jelly beans: the fruits of Cornus mas 'Prezent'. Image Svetlana Klymenko.

Pyramidalis Group

Tidier and more upright than typical C. mas, to which it otherwise corresponds. Forma pyramidalis was described from the garden variety by Dippel (1893), in practice encompassing trees with an upswept – though still rather broad – crown. In fact, the characteristic silhouette of such trees might be better described as rhomboidal than pyramidal.

'Raciborski'

A spreading shrub with oval fruits, ripening simultaneously in early September; selected by N. Piórecki, Bolestraszyce Arboretum, Poland (Pirc 2015).

'Radost'

Vigorous, hardy early-to-mid ripening Ukrainian hybrid from the Kashchenko Acclimatisation Garden; the fruits are red, oval to egg-shaped, dark red at maturity (late July–mid August) (Pirc 2015; Klymenko & Ilyinska 2023).

'Redstone'

A seed-raised cultivar rather than a clone, developed by the USDA Plant Materials Center, Elsberry, Michigan for conservation and amenity use in the American Midwest (as farm windbreaks or for revegetation), selected for seedling vigour, glossy foliage and dense growth form. The variety was bred from a plant or plants of unknown provenance from Rochester, New York, by B. H Slavin in 1934, released to the North American trade as seed and young plants only in 1991 after a remarkably long (four-decade) period of assessment (Henry 1991). ‘Redstone’ is a good fruiting form, ripening in August-September in the midwest, though Cappielo and Shadow (2005) consider there are much better recent introductions.