Japanese dogwood, Four-shining flower, Chinese dogwood
Cornus kousa subsp. chinensis

Family: Cornaceae

What it is like

A small deciduous tree. It grows 4 m tall. The branches are in flat layers. They are hairy. The hairs are white. The leaves are narrowly oval and 5-12 cm long by 3-7 cm wide. It has four white bracts around each flower. The flowers are creamy-white. The fruit are red. They are 2.5 cm across. They hang on slender stalks 7-8 cm long.

There are about 45 Cornus species.

Where it is found

It is a temperate plant. It grows between 400 and 2200 m altitude in China. It suits hardiness zones 5-8. Arboretum Tasmania. Hobart Botanical Gardens. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, North America, Tasmania, USA

How it is used for food

The fruit is edible and sweet, and is often used for making wine.

Edible parts

Fruit, leaves

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Si zao hua

Synonyms

Cornus kousa var. chinensis Osborn; Benthamia chinensis Hort. ex Lavallee, pro syn., nomen. only?? ; Benthamidia japonica (Siebold & Zuccarini) H. Hara var. chinensis (Osborn) H. Hara; Benthamidia sinensis (Nakai) Yamazaki; Cornus kousa var. leucotricha (Fang & Hsieh) Q.Y. Xiang; Cornus kousa Buerg. var. yaeyamensis Hatusima, Fl. Ryukyus: 457. 1971, nom. invalid.; Cornus yaeyamensis (S. Hatusima) S. Hatusima, nom. invalid.; Cynoxylon pseudokousa Pojarkova; Cynoxylon sinense Nakai; Dendrobenthamia japonica (A. P. De Candolle) W. P. Fang var. chinensis (Osborn) W. P. Fang [not in IK]; Dendrobenthamia japonica var. huaxiensis W. P. Fang & W. K. Hu; Dendrobenthamia japonica var. leucotricha W. P. Fang & Hsieh.;