Cornus alternifolia
Pagoda Dogwood
- Hardiness: Zone :
- 3
- Plant Type:
- Shrub, Tree
- Geography:
- Native
- Light:
- Sun/Part Shade, Shade/Part Sun
- Growth Rate:
- Moderate
- Moisture:
- Moderately Wet to Moderately Dry, Dry to Occasionally Moist, Needs Good Drainage
- Special Features:
- Attracts Butterflies
- Container Sizes:
- 2-gallon, 7-gallon
- Mature Height:
- 20'
- Mature Spread:
- 15'
This exquisite small native understory tree will have you swooning when you get to know it with some intimacy. Track this one down in rich shady woods, often at toe slopes of ravines, canyons, hollows and foothills. A great population exists in Green Lakes State Park in the Syracuse area. White flowers in umbels are followed by cobalt blue fruits in early summer or fall. The crowning feature of this plant is the stratified branching, which gives it its name. Lateral branches extend from the trunk in what seem like whorls, with space between the layers. The effect is captivating and rare in nature. Plant in any habitat other than extremely dry and exposed. Does not need to be pampered.
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