Flowering Dogwood
(Wide & Flat: Opposite Arrangement) |
| Bark red-brown to reddish gray, broken by fissures into small
blocks, like alligator hide. A small native tree with low spreading crown, especially
valued for ornamental planting. Wood used primarily for textile weaving shuttles.
There is a variety with red or pink bracts. |

Cornus florida L.
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| Leaves |
| Opposite, simple, 3"-5" long; clustered toward
tips of twigs; margins smooth or wavy; veins prominent and curved like a bow.
Foliage bright red in autumn. |
| Twigs |
| Red tinged with green, often with a bluish white powdery
coating; marked with rings; tips curve upward. End leaf bud covered by 2 reddish
scales; side leaf buds very small; flower buds conspicuous, silvery, button-shaped,
at ends of twigs. |
| Fruit |
| An egg-shaped drupe, 1/2"-3/5" long; coat red;
flesh yellowish; stone grooved, 2-celled; usually in clusters of 2-5; persist
after the leaves fall. Flowers greenish white or yellowish, small, in flat-topped
clusters; four showy white bracts underneath; open before the leaves. |
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