flowering dogwood Cornaceae Cornus florida

Leaf:Opposite, simple, 3 to 5 inches long, oval in shape with an entire or slightly wavy margin, arcuately veined, green above and slightly paler below.
Flower:Species is monoecious; very small and inconspicuous tight cluster, but surrounded by 4 very showy, large, white (occasionally pink) bracts, 2 inches in diameter, appearing in mid-spring.
Fruit:A shiny, oval red drupe, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, in clusters of 3 to 5, maturing in fall.
Twig:Slender, green or purple (purple on sunlit side), later turning gray, often with a glaucous bloom. The terminal flower buds are clove-shaped, vegetative buds resemble a dull cat claw.
Bark:Gray and smooth when young, turning very scaly to finely blocky.
Form:A small tree with a short trunk that branches low, producing a slightly rounded to flat-topped crown. Branches are opposite, and assume a "candelabra" appearance.

leaf flower fruit twig bark form map

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