flowering dogwood (TVA, White's Creek Small Wild Area, Plants)

flowering dogwood

Cornus florida

Summary ⁴

Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) is a species of flowering plant in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America, from southern Maine west to southern Ontario, Illinois, and eastern Kansas, and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas, with a disjunct population in Nuevo León and Veracruz in eastern Mexico. In Ontario, this tree species has been assessed and is now listed as endangered.

Adaptation ⁵

The USDA hardiness zones for flowering dogwood is 5 to 9. Flowering dogwood trees grow best in course to medium textured, well-drained soils with a pH range of 6 to 7. They are sensitive to rapidly changing soil temperature and are most abundant in temperature-consistent woodland soils. Although they are tolerant of seasonal dry periods, they are not tolerant of severe drought or heavy, saturated soils. The inability to grow on extremely dry sites is attributed to their shallow root system.

Flowering dogwood is an indicator of rich soil (mesic sites), but smaller trees will occur on more xeric sites. Trees growing in the mesic sites are more susceptible to dogwood anthracnose (see Pests and Potential Problems). In the future, flowering dogwood may only be found on poor, dry sites.

Partial or broken shade is best, but flowering dogwood can tolerate full sun. It does best with some shade in the south and full sun in the north. Shaded trees are less dense, grow more quickly and taller, and have poor flowering and fall color. Trees exposed to more sun are stouter, bushier, and produce more flowers.

Flowering dogwood is not tolerant of stresses such as heat, drought, pollution, or salt. These stresses make flowering dogwood more susceptible to disease, pests, and other problems.

Associated forest cover ⁶

The wide geographical range of flowering dogwood, and the diverse soils on which it is found, is indicative of a large number of associated species. Dogwood is specifically mentioned in 22 of the 90 Society of American Foresters forest cover types (3). Cover types range from Jack Pine (Type 1) and Beech - Sugar Maple (Type 60) in the North to Longleaf Pine (Type 70) in the South. Common associates include white, red, and black oaks Quercus alba, Q. falcata, Q. velutina), yellow-poplar, sassafras (Sassafras albidum), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and longleaf, loblolly, shortleaf, slash, and Virginia pines (Pinus palustris, P. taeda, P, echinata, P. elliottii, and P. virginiana). A complete list of species found with dogwood would include a majority of the trees growing in the Eastern United States.

Associations ⁷

Foodplant / pathogen
Discula destructiva infects and damages live stem of Cornus florida
Other: major host/prey

Conservation status ⁸

Flowering dogwood has been placed on the protected list in many of the
states in which it occurs [61].

Damaging agents ⁹

Because of its thin bark, flowering dogwood is readily injured by fire. Its profuse sprouting ability may actually increase the number of stems in fire-damaged stands, however (12). Flooding also is detrimental to flowering dogwood.

Little is known of the pest status of insects associated with wild flowering dogwoods, but many insects have been identified attacking cultivated ornamentals. The dogwood borer (Synanthedon scitula) is a noteworthy pest of cultivated flowering dogwood. Other damaging insects include flatheaded borers (Chrysobothris azurea and Agrilus cephalicus), dogwood twig borer (Oberea tripunctata), the twig girdler (Oncideres cingulata), scurfy scale (Chionaspis lintneri), and dogwood scale (C. corni) (1). Dogwood club gall, a clublike swelling on small twigs, is caused by infestations of midge larvae (Resseliella clavula) and is a serious problem in some areas (10). The redhumped caterpillar (Schizura concinna), a tussock moth (Dasychira basiflava), io moth (Automeris io), and scarab beetles (Phyllophaga spp.) are among the numerous leaf feeders attacking dogwood (1). Introduced pests of flowering dogwood include the Japanese weevil (Pseudocneorhinus bifasciatus) and Asiatic oak weevil (Crytepistomus castaneus) (8).

Basal stem canker, caused by the fungus Phytophthora cactorum, may girdle the tree and is the most lethal disease. Target cankers (Nectria galligena) sometimes occur on the trunk and limbs, and Armillaria mellea has been found on dogwoods. Leafspot (Cercospora cornicola) attacks seedlings, and Meliodogyne incognita causes severe root galling, associated with dieback and premature leaf fall in seedlings. Twig blight, caused by the fungus Myxosporium nitidum, may cause dieback of small twigs. Leaf spots and dieback of flowers are caused by Botrytis cinerea, Elsinoe corni, and Septoria cornicola, while Ascochyta cornicola may result in shrivelling and blackening of the leaves (7). Verticillium wilt (Verticillium albo-atrum) attacks dogwood (15), and the cherry leafroll, tobacco ringspot, and tomato ringspot viruses have been isolated from dogwood leaves (13).

Noninfectious diseases include sunscald, mechanical and drought injury, and freezing. Dogwood reproduction is often browsed heavily by deer and rabbits.

Sources and Credits

(c) Eric in SF, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/39312862@N00/141407237
(c) uwdigitalcollections, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/uwdigicollec/3543549534/
(c) Steven J. Baskauf, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/baskauf/11614
Adapted by Jonathan (JC) Carpenter from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_florida
Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/1381631
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/22778398
(c) BioImages, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22915401
Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24246221
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/22778406

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