Cornus sanguinea L.

TSO logo

Sponsor this page

For information about how you could sponsor this page, see How You Can Help

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cornus sanguinea' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-sanguinea/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Genus

Common Names

  • Common Dogwood

Synonyms

  • Swida sanguinea (L.) Opiz
  • Thelycrania sanguinea (L.) Fourret

Glossary

globose
globularSpherical or globe-shaped.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cornus sanguinea' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-sanguinea/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Shrub or small tree to 4 m. Bark dark red to brown, slightly rough. Branchlets reddish brown, with appressed trichomes at first, later glabrous, lenticels apparent on older wood. Leaves deciduous, 4–17 × 1.5–12 cm, chartaceous, elliptic to ovate, base broadly rounded, upper surface green, lower surface glaucous green, pubescent with appressed, white trichomes, with tufts of trichomes in vein axils, three to five secondary veins on each side of the midvein, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole to 3.8 cm long. Inflorescence cymose, 3–6 cm diameter, peduncle 2–4 cm; pedicels green, turning dark red in fruit; bracts minute, not petal-like. Flowers hermaphrodite, whitish, flat-topped, petals 0.2–0.7 cm long. Fruits subglobose to globose, 0.6–1 cm diameter, purplish black at maturity, with one stone; stone globose, 0.4–0.8 cm in diameter, slightly grooved. Flowering April to June, fruiting August to October. (Murrell 2015; Popescu et al. 2016).

Distribution  AlbaniaArmeniaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCzechiaEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIranIrelandItalyKosovoLatviaLebanonLithuaniaNorth MacedoniaNetherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalRussiaSerbiaSlovakiaSpainSwedenSyriaTurkeyUkraineUnited Kingdom

Habitat Cool, temperate woodland, woodland edges and hedgerows.

USDA Hardiness Zone 4-8

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Conservation status Not evaluated (NE)

A deciduous shrub 6 to 12 ft high, of erect habit; young shoots minutely downy, dull dark green. Leaves ovate, 112 to 3 in. long, 34 to 134 in. wide; tapered and rounded at the base, slender-pointed, furnished, especially when young, with pale scattered hairs on both surfaces, which are longer beneath than above; veins in three or four, sometimes five pairs; stalks 18 to 12 in. long. Flowers dull white, with a heavy odour, produced densely during June in downy cymes 112 to 2 in. across; sepals and flower-stalks downy; petals about 14 in. long. Fruit globose, purplish black, shining, 14 in. wide, with a bitter taste.

Native of Europe, including the south of England, where it is abundant in some localities. It is a shrub of undistinguished character, its chief value being in the fine autumnal red of its leaves. The specific name applies to this and not to the young bark, which has nothing more than an occasional dark red tinge on the exposed side. The wood is tough and hard, and is used for making butchers’ skewers and such like.


'Compressa'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus alba ‘Hessei’ Hort.

RHS Hardiness Rating: H5

Introduced around 1960 at the School of Horticulture in Budapest, Hungary. Better known in Europe this is a selection with small, thick dark green leaves. It has an upright, compact habit with short internodes but in time it can grow to 2.4 m tall (Cappiello & Shadow 2005).


f. viridissima (Dieck) Schelle

Young stems green, remaining so the first winter; occurs wild with the type.Variegated forms have been known since the eighteenth century, but none is of any garden value.

'Midwinter Fire'

RHS Hardiness Rating: H5

Considered one of the best selections for winter interest, this is a very popular cultivar that was discovered around 1980 in a German garden by H. Venhorst, Netherlands and then named by Van den Dool Cultures BV, Boskoop, Netherlands in 1990. ‘Midwinter Fire’ is vigorous selection that suckers rapidly in contrast to ‘Winter Beauty’ which is a slow grower that does not sucker much.

The stems are yellow-green during the summer months, changing to bright orange-yellow in autumn and winter (Cappiello & Shadow 2005).