American Dogwood Tree Facts
November 14 2015.
American dogwood tree facts. Americans love for the dogwood was inspired by two of our founding fathers. Leaves are simple opposite ovate measuring 6 13 cm long and 4 6 cm broad with entire margins. Dark green leaves 3 to 6 inches long turn an attractive red in fall. Flowering dogwood has a low branching habit with a flattish crown.
American dogwood is a small deciduous tree which grows to the height of 10 meters and often wider than it is tall when mature having trunk diameter upto 30 cm. Thomas jefferson planted dogwoods at monticello in the late 1770s which inspired virginia lawmakers to select the american dogwood as the state flower in 1918. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs and a few of the woody species are evergreen several species have small heads of inconspicuous. Dogwood tree facts 01 scientific name.
It grows on fertile loamy soil in areas that provide enough moisture and shade. Flowering dogwoods produce red fruit in autumn. During the american civil war soldiers often made a herbal tea from dogwood bark and used the leaves as a poultice to cool wounds. The dogwood tree belongs to the family cornaceae and its scientific name is cornus florida.
It turns a rich red brown in fall. The dogwood tree is a majestic ornamental well adapted to life in the united states. The tree is the state tree of missouri and its flower is the state flower of virginia and north carolina. One of the ornamental trees used for landscaping flowering dogwood is a small deciduous tree that grows about 30 ft in height with a crown spread of 35 ft depending on the cultivator.
Dogwood can be found in the evergreen forests or on the edges of deciduous forests. An old tree will stand about 5 meters tall. It is the state tree of north carolina. The leaves grow to about five inches of length and two inches width.
Dogwood is a type of flowering tree that belongs to the family cornaceae. Dogwood trees are native to north america. Range from white through pink to. One suggestion is that it was originally dagwood because the hard wood was used.
There are over 50 species within the cornus or dogwood genus. It is an ornamental tree and is also known as hound s tree. It is quite common in north america. Nobody s quite sure where the name dogwood comes from.
There are 30 to 50 species of dogwood that are native to temperate areas of north america and eurasia. White dogwood pink dogwood and chinese dogwood amongst others. As long as you offer the tree plenty of water and sunshine like most plants the dogwood will do just fine. These species vary wildly from shrubs to deciduous temperate trees and evergreens.
George washington planted dogwoods at mount vernon obtaining many of his trees from the surrounding forest. Flowering dogwood is a small deciduous tree that blooms with white pink or red flowers in early spring.