Cornus × horseyi
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 × horseyi' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Common Names
- Horsey Dogwood
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 iberica
- 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
Large deciduous shrub, branchlets somewhat four-angled, sparse with appressed trichomes, becoming purple. Leaves 5–10(–12) × 2–5.5 cm, chartaceous, elliptic-ovate to oblong-ovate, base cuneate, upper surface yellowish-green with short appressed trichomes at first, lower surface greyish-green, pubescent with appressed trichomes, five to seven secondary veins on each side of the midvein, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole 0.5–2 cm long. Inflorescences corymbose, 5.5–6.5 cm diameter, peduncle 3–4 cm long, peduncle and pedicels pubescent; bracts minute, not petal-like. Flowers with petals 0.4–0.5 cm long. Fruits subglobose, 0.6–0.7 cm diameter, dark blue at maturity, with one stone; stone 0.4 cm long, slightly compressed, faintly ribbed. Flowering in spring to summer, fruiting in autumn. (Rehder 1922
Habitat In cultivation only
USDA Hardiness Zone 7-8
RHS Hardiness Rating H5
Conservation status Not evaluated (NE)
As described in the entry for Cornus × dunbarii, in about 1910 a batch of seed from Cornus macrophylla was sown at the Rochester Parks Department, New York, from which two anomalous plants stood out as the seedlings matured (Kehne 1978). These were determined by Alfred Rehder of the Arnold Arboretum to be hybrids of C. macrophylla with C. amomum and C. asperifolia, which he named C. × horseyi and C. × dunbarii respectively. Richard Horsey was then curator and taxonomist of the Rochester Parks System.
Cornus × horseyi is an obscure hybrid, with few examples in cultivation. It is grown at the Arnold Arboretum and the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, where it has formed a big shrub, covered in corymbs of flowers in late July and looking very ornamental (David West, Instagram post 28 July 2022).
