Flowering Dogwood State Tree of Missouri

The state tree of Missouri is the Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida). This tree is also known as cornel, arrowwood, white cornel, and Cornelian tree. This understory tree has wood that in finely grained, hard, and durable. The flowering dogwood is one of those trees that some people call a shrub. The tree is multi-stemmed and can achieve heights of 40 feet in the South and 13 feet in the North. The tree can also be trained to a single trunk. The mostly rounded canopy can extend to 30 feet. Flowering dogwood is hardy to Zone 5.

These native, deciduous trees are found growing in forests and natural areas throughout most of the eastern half of the United States, except at high elevations. The trees need rich, well-drained sandy or clay soil and are susceptible to both drought or flooding. The trees prefer a slightly acidic soil that is light in texture. They grows well in shade, but they flower more productively in full sun.

Flowering dogwood is widely planted as an ornamental. The branches grow almost horizontal and remain close to ground level. The tree is a good choice for planting as a specimen or in small groupings. It looks well placed near a patio and in naturalized areas of the yard. Flowering dogwood is not particularly tolerant of urban pollution, including ozone and road salt, so it has limited utility as a street tree or in parking lots.

The actual flowers on this dogwood are small and yellowish green that seems to blend in, if it weren't for the white bracts, which together measure 2 inches long and 4 inches across, that frame the flowers. The tree is in bloom during the latter half of May before the leaves form. Leaf color is green during the growing months. In the fall, the leaves become red to reddish purple to maroon and are considered a valuable feature of the tree.

The fruit, which is toxic to humans, is a yellow or red berry like shape that appears in clusters. The berry is a treat for many animals. Songbirds, cardinals, sparrows, titmouse, towhees, and grosbeaks eat the fruit. Robins and woodpeckers are also frequent visitors. During the winter months (September through February), the fruit is a mainstay for the wild turkey, chipmunk, mouse, fox, squirrel, black bear, deer, and skunk. The twigs and leaves are also browsed by deer and rabbits. In certain areas, flowering dogwood is the host for the larva of the butterfly Spring Azure (Celastrina "ladon").

The extreme hardness of the wood from flowering dogwood has commercial value as golf club heads, wheels for skates, and knitting needles. In earlier times, the bark was used as a tea to reduce fever. During the Civil War, the bark was used for medicinal purposes as a substitute for quinine. The early people used the roots to make a dye to decorate porcupine quills and eagle feathers.

Flowering dogwood can be propagated by seed, root cuttings, layering, and grafting. In the wild, there is often re-growth following a fire disturbance or when the trunk has been cut. The trees do not deal well with transplanting, so it is recommended that they be moved only at a young age, and with the understanding that they may take some time to recover.

Cultivars available in the trade include 'Sweetwater Red', 'Cherokee Brave', Cherokee Chief', Cherokee Daybreak', 'Cherokee Princess', Cherokee Sunset', 'Silveredge', 'Cloud 9', 'White Cloud', 'Spring Song', 'Pendula', 'Gigantea', and 'Welchii.'

Flowering dogwood has predators. There can be damage from borers, twig girdler, scale, powdery mildew, crown rot, and canker. The dogwood blight (dogwood decline) is killing most of the trees growing in the wild.

Sources
Cornus florida, US Forest Service, http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/corflo/all.html
Cornus florida, University of Connecticut, http://www.ipm.uconn.edu/Plants/c/corflo/corflo1.html
Cornus florida, University of Florida, http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/CORFLOA.pdf
Cornus florida, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COFL2