Western flowering dogwood

Leaves

Form

• Clustered at the shoot tips
• Widest near the middle
• Tapered to both ends
• Tip short, sharp
• Base broad, wedge-shaped
• Fine hairs on both surfaces

Length

• 8–15 cm

Colour

• Upper surface deep green
• Lower surface of petiole grayish-green

Autumn colour

• Dull red

Margin

• Wavy

Buds

Form

• Terminal leaf bud present, long-tipped
• 1 pair of scales covered with fine hairs
• Terminal flower bud globular
• Lateral buds minute

Length

• Terminal bud 8–12 mm

Colour

• Hairs white
  

Twigs

Form

• Hairy when young becoming smooth
• Lenticels prominent

Colour

• Light green when young, becoming purplish

Flowers

Form

• Small, in compact clusters (cymes)
• Inconspicuous
• Surrounded by 4–6 pointed floral bracts

Length

• 5–10 cm

Width

• “Flower” about 10–20 cm

Colour

• Flower cluster dull purple or green
• Floral bracts white (rarely pink)

Structure

• Synoecious
• Floral bracts originate as bud scales

Floral timing

• April to June, sometimes again in late summer

Fruits

Length

• 10–12 mm

Colour

• Bright red

Structure

• Drupes
• In densely packed globular clusters of 30–40
• Ripen in autumn

Bark

Form

• Thin, smooth, breaking into small plates with age

Colour

• Light grey to reddish-brown

Size

Height

• To 18 m

Diameter

• To 30 cm

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Slightly tapered, straight, distinct   

Crown

• Narrow, short

Open-grown

Trunk

• Trunk short 

Crown

• Rounded, about as wide as high
• Principal branches ascending, then spreading horizontally 

Root system

• Deep, occasionally with a taproot

Habitat

Site

• Deep, coarse, well-drained sites
• Water-formed terraces, along riverbanks, near the bottom of valleys

Associated species

• Often a major component of the understory in open conifer stands