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Alternateleaf dogwood

Cornus alternifolia

Also called Pagoda Dogwood, Green Osier, Alternate Leaf Dogwood, Alternate Leaved Dogwood, Alternative Leaf Dogwood

Alternateleaf dogwood
Photo: Unknown author, Public domain

Alternateleaf dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) is a small deciduous shrub or tree native to eastern North America, grown for its tiered, pagoda-like branching. It does best in partial to full shade with moist, well-drained soil.

Family
Cornaceae (Corn family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Shade
Water
Keep soil evenly moist, especially in drought or heat, and mulch well.
Soil
Moist, well-drained, slightly acidic to neutral loam.
Temperature
Hardy to around -35 °C; grows well in cool temperate climates and dislikes prolonged heat.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
C. & E. Canada to NC. & E. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Cornus alternifolia is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to southern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Mississippi. It is rare in the southern United States. It is commonly known as green osier, alternate-leaved dogwood, and pagoda dogwood.

Where it grows

C. alternifolia is found under open deciduous trees, as well as along the margins of forests and swamps. These trees prefer moist, well drained soil.

Uses

The tree is regarded as attractive because of its wide-spreading shelving branches and flat-topped head, and is often used in ornamental plantings. The flower clusters have no great white involucre as have those of the flowering dogwood, and the fruit is dark purple instead of red.

Other Cornus plants

Red-Barked Dogwood · Canadian Bunchberry · Bentham's cornel · Giant dogwood · Flowering dogwood · Kousa dogwood · Cornelian-cherry · Pacific dogwood · Asiatic dogwood · Bloodtwig dogwood · Redosier dogwood · Western cordilleran bunchberry

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cornus alternifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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