Cornus florida
[ Benthamidia florida1 ]

Flowering Dogwood

[ click on any image below to see larger version ]

Family: Cornaceae (Dogwood family)

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: March - May
Mid-Atlantic fruit ripe: September - October

Flowering Dogwood is one of our best-known dogwoods and is the state flower in several states.

The Dogwood Anthracnose Fungus (Discula destructiva) has become rampant in shaded, forest-understory populations of Flowering Dogwood since the 1980s, resulting in the mortality of millions of trees. Plants growing in sunny, open habitats are less prone to this fungus than those growing in humid forest understories.



19 April 2015
Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA
19 April 2015
Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA
18 April 2016
Monticello Park, Alexandria, VA
5 May 2018
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
12 November 2017
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
6 October 2014
Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA
(red fruits in autumn)
6 October 2014
Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA
(red fruits in autumn)
12 November 2017
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
(flower bud that will emerge next year)
29 April 2022
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
(flower details)
     


References

1:   The Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora states:

Flora of the Southeastern U.S. (Weakley et al. 2023) splits traditional Cornus into several genera (Chamaepericlymenum, Benthamidia, and Swida in our area) representing major clades in phylogenetic analysis. Even though Cornus treated broadly is monophyletic, the clades are also monophyletic and diverged millions of years ago, accorrding to Yu et al. (2017, PLOS One DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0171361) and Fu et al. (2019, Molec. Phylogen. & Evol. 140: 106601). As evolutionary lineages, these clades are far older than many groups treated by taxonomists as genera and clearly merit generic status.




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