Recognize flowering dogwood by its opposite, oval leaves with strongly curved side veins and its low-branched, broad-spreading form, often 15 to 30 feet tall (4.6 to 9.1 m).
Its showy bloom structure has four large white bracts surrounding a tight central cluster of true flowers.
Take a photo and use Botan to confirm your plant identification.
Clear images work best. Avoid photos taken too close or too far away
Use a few easy traits to check for Cornus florida.
Check several features together, especially opposite leaves and the four notched bracts.
Cornus florida shows clear visual shifts from early growth through flowering and fruiting stages.
Several flowering dogwood selections are identifiable by bract color or leaf variegation.
In spring, flowering dogwood is easiest to spot when its showy white to pink bracts open before or with the leaves. By late summer into fall, clusters of bright red fruits stand out against the foliage. Fall leaves often turn red to reddish purple before dropping. In winter, the layered branching and small, opposite buds become more visible after leaf drop.
Several dogwoods can be mistaken for Cornus florida at a glance.
Kousa dogwood(Cornus kousa)
Often confused because both are small trees with four white bracts. Kousa blooms after leaves expand, while flowering dogwood blooms before or with leaf-out. Its fruit is a single round, bumpy red ball, not a cluster of red drupes.
Pacific dogwood(Cornus nuttallii)
Similar layered branching and large white bracts can mislead. Pacific dogwood usually has 6 bracts, not 4, and grows taller, often 20 to 50 feet (6 to 15 m). Its flower clusters also tend to be larger.
Cornus florida is native to eastern North America, from southern Maine to Florida and west to eastern Texas, Oklahoma, and southern Ontario. It is most often found in deciduous woodlands, forest edges, and slopes, usually as an understory tree beneath taller hardwoods. Seeing a dogwood in shaded eastern woods helps narrow identification, especially where similar ornamental dogwoods are planted rather than native.
Identify Your Plant
Scan your plant to get a quick ID
Use Botan to identify or verify a plant from an image, helping avoid mix-ups with similar species.
The most distinctive feature is the showy spring display of four large white or pink bracts around a tight cluster of tiny yellow-green true flowers. That pattern is central to flowering dogwood identification.
Use Botan to identify a plant from a photo, then review plant details, care information, and common problems.
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