Cornus mas Cultivars S-Z

'Schönbrunner Gourmet-Dirndl'

Selected as a culinary variety by Cornus breeder Helmut Pirc of the Höhere Bundeslehr- und Forschungsanstalt Schönbrunn, Austria in 1990. The fruits are pear-shaped, 3 cm, ripening in September, and are recommended for table use. Widely available as a fruit tree throughout Europe, including Britain. The Austrian dialect word ‘Dirndl’ here refers to the fruit of the Cornelian Cherry, not the traditional item of clothing.

'Schumener'

A floriferous, large-fruited Bulgarian selection with large, elongated oval fruits, 2.7–3.7 cm long, introduced by A. Koljaschev. Ripens in mid September (Pirc 2015). Gayraud (2013) describes the taste as ‘slightly sour’. The name refers to the Bulgarian city of Shumen.

'Sémen'

Dark-red, pear-shaped fruits, extremely high in vitamin C and sweetly acidic (can be eaten raw), ripening late August–early September; moderately vigorous. From a seedling from Kizilovka Garden, Crimea (Pirc 2015).

The fruits of Cornus mas 'Sémen' can be enjoyed raw. Image Svetlana Klymenko.

'Shan'

Extremely large buds, and large cherry-shaped fruits (2.5–3.2 × 2.5 cm); ripens mid August (Pirc 2015).

'Siretsky'

Cylindrical red fruits; disease-resistant (Pirc 2015).

Sphaerocarpa Group

Trees with spherical fruits were described as a botanical variety by Cretzoiu (1934). The population at the type locality in Romania – a slope on the Cornetul Pocruiei, Tismana – consisted entirely of this spherically-fruited form, whereas in the wider district only the typical elongate-fruited form occurred (Cretzoiu 1934). We treat the taxon as a cultivar group, but the restricted distribution suggests that (for once) a botanical rank might be justifiable.

'Starokievskiy'

A moderately vigorous hybrid from a complex cross, in appearance resembling a finer form of ‘Lukyanovsky’. Fruits pear-shaped, asymmetrical; ripens mid August to early September (Pirc 2015).

Pear shaped fruits of Cornus mas 'Starokievskiy'. Image Svetlana Klymenko.

'Svetliachok'

Moderately vigorous with extremely large, bottle-shaped fruits, black-red at maturity and remaining on the tree (late August to early September); originated as a sport from ‘Lukyanovsky’ (Pirc 2015).

A twelve-year-old tree of Cornus mas 'Svetliatchok': the fruits remain on the tree once ripe, making harvesting easier. Image Svetlana Klymenko.

The fruits of Cornus mas 'Svetliatchok' are extremely large. Image Svetlana Klymenko.

'Szafer'

A rather weak grower, but one of the best-tasting selections, the pear-shaped, dark red fruits extremely high in sugar and good eaten raw, ripening September–mid October; introduced by Bolestraszyce Arboretum, Poland (Pirc 2015).

'Titus'

Vigorous; the fruits small, dark-red when ripe (mid August); introduced by the Fruit Research Breeding Institute, Bojnice, Slovakia (Pirc 2015).

'Variegata'

An old, slow-growing selection with small grey-green leaves and a cream margin. The variegation is stable but plants are best grown in shade to avoid margin scorch (Cappiello & Shadow 2005). In British gardens (at least) it is often free-fruiting when adjacent specimens of unselected C. mas are not.

Cornus mas 'Variegata' at Belle Vue Park, Newport, South Wales (9 June 2015). Image Owen Johnson.

Cornus mas 'Variegata' is a very effective foliage plant, with a crisp white margin to each leaf (Colesbourne Park, Gloucestershire, August 2008). Image John Grimshaw.

Cornus mas 'Variegata' fruits reliably, the red berries contrasting nicely with the foliage (Bluebell Arboretum and Nursery, Derbyshire, September 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

Cornus mas 'Variegata' with one plain green shoot: this cultivar is usually very stable (Oxford Botanic Garden, May 2010). Image John Grimshaw.

The pallor of Cornus mas 'Variegata' makes a useful contrast with other foliage plants (Colesbourne Park, Gloucestershire, May 2026). Image John Grimshaw.

'Vavilovets'

Pear-shaped fruits, ripening in mid August; a rather weak tree (Pirc 2015).

'Violacea'

Fruits maturing to deep purplish-violet, almost black, probably a spontaneously occurring mutant form (cf. Xanthocarpa Group). The blue-fruited form is mentioned by Bosse (1840), and was described as a forma (f. fructu-violaceo) by Siebert and Voss (1896). A dark-fruited culinary variety under this name is offered by a handful specialist nurseries in continental Europe, but it is unclear whether this is a clonal variety: if not – which seems probable, in view of the species’ tendency to throw up mutants with coloured fruits – then the dark-berried forms would be better treated as a cultivar group.

'Vladimirskiy'

A commercially grown, relatively vigorous hybrid with sweetly acidic, large, oval-cylindrical to pear-shaped fruits, almost black at maturity (Pirc 2015).

'Vutivka Svitlanu'

A Ukrainian early-fruiting cultivar selected from seed (Klymenko & Ilyinska 2023).

Fruit of Cornus mas 'Vutivka Svitlanu' Image Svetlana Klymenko.

'Vydubetskiy'

A relatively vigorous, commercially-grown hybrid with asymmetrical pear-shaped fruits, high in sugar and vitamin C; fruits are pomegranate-red at maturity (mid August to early September). Fruit remain on the tree, making harvesting straightforward (Pirc 2015); introduced in 2000 by Svetlana Klymenko, Ukraine (Gayraud 2013).

Fruits of Cornus mas 'Vydubetskiy', a high-yielding Ukrainian cultivar. Image Svetlana Klymenko.

'Vyshgorodsky'

From a seedling from the Kashchenko Acclimatisation Garden, Kyiv, with dark-red, rather small fruits; said to be very drought tolerant (Pirc 2015).

Xanthocarpa Group

This name covers yellow-fruited forms of the species, which occur spontaneously in natural populations, and which have been brought into cultivation for centuries. Duhamel du Monceau (1755) mentioned a yellow-fruited form (‘fructu cera colore’), and yellow-fruited trees were offered commercially by nurserymen in southern France in the late eighteenth century under C. mas fructus flavo (Ferriere 1791).

'Yantarnyi'

Oval to cylindrical, amber-yellow, tartly sweet fruits, falling from the tree when ripe; a seedling selection, grown in Ukraine as a fruit-tree – rather weak, but very early flowering, so a useful pollinator (Pirc 2015).

The yellow fruits of Cornus mas 'Yantarnyi' fall from the tree when ripe. Image Svetlana Klymenko.

'Yevgenia

Moderately vigorous hybrid with pear-shaped fruits containing high levels of vitamin C; dark-red to almost black-red at maturity; ripens mid August to mid September (Pirc 2015).