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Photograph of flower buds of Flowering dogwood. In mid April the buds have begun to enlarge and open slightly. Buds are "onion - shaped" and their presence makes the tree easy to identify even in winter. |
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Cornus florida - Flowering dogwood photos. The white portion of the flowers are bracts, not petals. They surround the numerous, small, inconspicuous, yellowish, perfect flowers. The bracts are initially joined at their reddish purple tips. The flowers appear with, or just before the leaves. Pictures taken May 6, 2006 |
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The Flowering dogwood is a very popular ornamental tree in eastern North America. It is a small shrubby tree. Flowers are generally in bloom for 2 - 4 weeks between March and June. Although they may get taller, trees are typically about 15 feet tall and 15 feet in diameter. This photograph of the Cornus florida was taken on May 6, 2006 |
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The fruit of the Flowering dogwood occurs in clusters. These pictures show it going through its color progression from green in mid-June to brilliant red in mid-September. The fruit is a fall/winter favorite of a variety of birds. WARNING - fruit of flowering dogwood is poisonous to humans. (http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/doc/pg_cofl2.doc) |
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The leaves of the have prominent veins. Leaves are green in summer, often with wavy edges that curl upward. Fall leaves may be bright red. |
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The Flowering dogwood is the Missouri state tree. It's bark looks like alligator hide. |
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Additional photos and drawings >Additional photos and drawings (from USDA)
Source for content information: Silvics of North America - http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/table_of_contents.shtm
All photos taken at Morton Arboretum, Lisle Illinois. The Morton Arboretum catalog lists 99 individual Flowering dogwood trees.
| Kingdom: Plantae -- Plants | |||||||||
| Subkingdom: Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants | |||||||||
| Superdivision: Spermatophyta -- Seed plants | |||||||||
| Division: Magnoliophyta -- Flowering plants | |||||||||
| Class: Magnoliopsida -- Dicotyledons | |||||||||
| Subclass: Rosidae | |||||||||
| Order: Cornales - | |||||||||
| Family: Cornaceae - Dogwood family | |||||||||
| Genus: Cornus L. - dogwood | |||||||||
| Species: Cornus florida L. - Flowering dogwood | |||||||||
Karren Wcisel © copyright 2006 - 2008
Send email to Karrenw@aol.com
Please ask for permission before using my photographs. Larger sizes and additional photographs of the tree are often available.