''Cornus kousa'' is a small

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree tall, in the

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

family

Cornaceae The Cornaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants in the order Cornales. The family contains approximately 85 species in two genera, '' Alangium'' and '' Cornus''. They are mostly trees and shrubs, which may be deciduous or evergreen, ...

. Common names include kousa, kousa dogwood, Chinese dogwood, Korean dogwood, and Japanese dogwood. Synonyms are ''Benthamia kousa'' and ''Cynoxylon kousa''. It is a plant native to

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

including

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Widely cultivated as an ornamental, it is naturalized in

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

Description

Like other ''

Cornus ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous ...

'', ''C. kousa'' has opposite, simple leaves, 4–10 cm long. The tree is extremely showy when in bloom, but what appear to be four, white petals are actually four spreading

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s below the cluster of inconspicuous yellow-green flowers. The blossoms appear in late spring, weeks after the tree leafs out. It can be distinguished from the flowering dogwood (''

Cornus florida ''Cornus florida'', the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering plant, flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to n ...

'') of eastern North America by its more upright habit, flowering about a month later, and by the pointed rather than rounded flower bracts. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is a globose pink to red compound

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

2–3 cm in diameter, though these berries tend to grow larger towards the end of the season and some berry clusters that do not fall from the tree exceed 4 cm. It is edible, with a sweet and creamy flavour, and is a delicious addition to the tree's ornamental value. The fruit is sometimes used for making wine. It is resistant to the dogwood

anthracnose A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

disease, caused by the fungus ''Discula destructiva'', unlike ''C. florida'', which is very susceptible and commonly killed by it; for this reason, ''C. kousa'' is being widely planted as an ornamental tree in areas affected by the disease. Fall foliage is a showy red color.

Varieties, hybrids and cultivars

There are two recognized

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

: * ''Cornus kousa'' or ''Cornus kousa'' subsp. ''kousa'' – Japanese dogwood, native to Japan and Korea. * ''Cornus kousa'' subsp. ''chinensis'' – Chinese dogwood, native to China. This variety supposedly flowers more freely and produces larger flower bracts, with leaves that are also said to be larger than average. The validity of this variety, however, is questioned by some authorities. Hybrids between ''C. kousa'' and ''C. florida'' (''Cornus'' × ''rutgersensis'' ) and ''C. kousa'' and ''C. florida'' (''Cornus'' × ''elwinortonii'' ) have been created by

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. Several selected for their disease resistance and good flower appearance have been named, patented, and released.

Cultivars A cultivar is a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue cult ...

include:

AGM cultivars

, the following cultivars have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

: * 'John Slocock' * 'Miss Satomi' * 'Summer Fun' * 'Teutonia' * 'Wolf Eyes' * var. ''chinensis'' 'China Girl' * var. ''chinensis'' 'Wisley Queen'

Culinary and food usage

''C. kousa'' has edible berries. The soft pulp is sweet with a similar flavour to a ripe persimmon but the presence of hard seeds that are well attached to the pulp can be inconvenient when eaten directly. The rind of the berries is usually discarded because it has a bitter taste, although it is edible. The seeds are usually not eaten, but could be ground into jam and sauces. While less popular than the berries, young leaves can also be consumed.

Gallery

Image:Cornus_kousa_flowers_img_2068.jpg, ''C. kousa'' flowers Image:Cornus kousa 14zz-fruit.jpg, Foliage and fruit Image:Wzwz tree 01e.jpg, Fruits in late summer Image:Kousa Dogwood Fruit Inside.jpg, Fruit cut in half File:Kousa Dogwood in early June.JPG, ''C. kousa'' in June at the

UBC Botanical Garden The UBC Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located on the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, British Columbia. It maintains a documented living collection of temperate plants for the purposes of education, research, conservat ...

File:Cornus kousa Samaratin B.jpg, ''C. kousa'' 'Samaratin' in an arboretum in

Vossem, Belgium Vossem is a village in the municipality of Tervuren, in Belgium, 15 km from Leuven, or Louvain. It is located in the valley of the Voer creek (small river, tributary to the Dijle). There is small nature reserve in Vossem, the ''Twaalf-Apost ...

File:Cornus kousa 'Satomi' - VanDusen Botanical Garden - Vancouver, BC - DSC06750c.jpg, ''Cornus kousa'' 'Satomi' in the

VanDusen Botanical Garden VanDusen Botanical Garden is a botanical garden situated in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the Shaughnessy neighborhood. It is located at the northwest corner of 37th Avenue and Oak Street. It is named for local lumberman and philanthropist Whit ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q728441 kousa Trees of China Trees of Japan Trees of Korea Trees of Taiwan Flora of the Ryukyu Islands Trees of Bhutan Flora of Sikkim Trees of Hawaii Ornamental trees Plants described in 1866 Trees of Northern America Taxa named by Henry Fletcher Hance