Cornus sericea, Red Twig Dogwood

Size: shrub, 6-8' average height at maturity, 5-8' spread

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 2-4.5" long, 1-2" wide, simple, ovate to elliptic, acute or acuminate tip, rounded at base, yellow-green in spring, shiny dark green in summer, often reddish-purple in fall

Twigs: green tinged red in summer, winter can be bright crimson depending on cultivar, conspicuous lenticels, lateral buds, pith white

Flowers: monoecious, yellow-white, bloom in late spring, 1.5-2" diameter, flat-topped cymes

Fruit: whitish or bluish-white drupe, .38"

Chaenomeles speciosa, Flowering Quince

Size: shrub, 6-10' average height at maturity

Leaves: deciduous, alternate, ovate to oblong, cuneate, sharply serrate, rounded and toothed, lustrous dark green above, glabrous, stipules large and conspicuous on current season's growth

Twigs: slender, brownish, often slightly pubescent

Flowers: perfect, 5 petals, 1.5-1.75" diameter, single to double, scarlet to red, pink to white

Fruit: pome, apple-shaped, 2-2.5" long and wide, yellow-green, often with redish blush

Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood

Size: tree, 20-30' average height at maturity

Buds: flower buds usually terminal, stalked, flattened on top, about .25" wide, valvate; vegetative buds valvate, slender, almost hidden in raised leaf scars

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 3-6" long, 1.5-3" wide, simple, abruptly acuminate, entire, nearly glabrous above, glaucus below, dark green above (but lighter than C. kousa), red or reddish purple in fall

Twigs: reddish purple, sometimes green on lower surface

Flowers: monoecious, true flowers yellowish or greenish, bracts are white in the species but pink and red in some cultivars, bracts are about 2" long

Fruit: shiny red drupe, usually in clusters of several, fall

Bark: broken into small, squarish plates, gray-brown to black

Cornus alternifolia, Pagoda Dogwood

Size: tree, 15-25' average height at maturity (spread can be wider)

Buds: terminal bud .25", reddish or purplish

Leaves: deciduous, alternate, crowded near ends of twigs (almost appearing whorled), 2-5" long, 1-2.5" wide, simple, ovate-elliptic, acuminate, entire, nearly glabrous above, slightly glaucous underside, medium to dark green, sometimes reddish purple in fall

Twigs: young stems shiny reddish purple or brown above, often lighter underneath

Flowers: monoecious, yellowish white, late spring

Fruit: bluish-black drupe, bloomy, up to .33", pinkish-red stalk

Bark: Gray with slight ridges and furrows

Cornus mas, Corneliancherry Dogwood

Size: tree, 18' average height at maturity, 15-20'spread

Buds: axillary (not necessarily terminal), rounded, yellow-green, usually with 3 visible scales; vegetative buds valvate, pointed, less appressed than in other dogwoods

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 2-4" long, .75-1.5" wide, simple, ovate to elliptic, tips acute or acuminate, margins entire, dark green, purplish red in fall

Twigs: usually red above, green below, slender

Flowers: monoecious, yellow in early spring, in .75" umbels

Fruit: bright red drupe about .5" long, July, edible

Bark: exfoliating gray-brown or rich brown

Cornus kousa, Kousa Dogwood

Size: tree, 20-30' average height and spread at maturity

Buds: flower bud pointed, longer than wide (unlike C. florida), terminal; vegetative buds valvate, close to stem, brownish black

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 2-4" long, .75-1.75" wide, simple, ovate to elliptic, acuminate, margins entire, dark green to blue green, reddish purple or scarlet in fall

Twigs: brown or tan twig contrasts with dark ring beneath leaf scar, fringe of reddish hairs above leaf scar

Flowers: monoecious, true flowers inconspicuous, 4 bracts creamy, about 2" long

Fruit: pinkish-red or red drupe resembling a soccer ball, .75-1" wide, on a pendulous stem like a cherry, edible

Bark: exfoliating mix of gray, tan, and brown

Cornus racemosa, Gray Dogwood

Size: shrub, 10-15' average height at maturity, 10-15' spread

Buds: flower buds terminal, more rounded and much larger than vegetative buds, slightly appressed

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 2-4" long, 1-2" wide, simple, narrowly ovate to lanceolate, long acuminate tips, margins entire, gray-green to dark green, sometimes purplish red in fall

Twigs: orange-brown, contrasting with older gray stems, narrow black band below leaf scar

Flowers: monoecious, whitish, in panicles up to 2 wide, at tips of every branch, late spring bloom

Fruit: blue-white or white, .25", late summer, pedicels reddish-pink, last into winter

Bark: Gray

Cornus sanguinea, Bloodtwig Dogwood

Size: shrub, 6-15' average hight and width at maturity

Buds: flower buds terminal, grayish pubescence; vegetative buds valvate with grayish pubescence

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 1.5-3" long, .75-1.75" wide, simple, acuminate, rounded or broad-cuneate at base, dark green above, yellow in late summer and early fall on Cornell campus, but can change to a greenish purple

Twigs: young stems tend to be a combination of yellow with orange, red, and pink, depending on cultivar

Flowers: monoecious, dull white, late may to early June, can repeat bloom in late summer-fall, 1.5-2" diameter, flat-topped cymes

Fruit: clusters of purple-black drupes, .25" across

Deutzia gracilis, Slender Deutzia

Size: shrub, 2-4' average height at maturity (3-4' spread)

Buds: ovoid, nearly sessile, several pairs of loose scales, grayish

Leaves: deciduous, semievergreen, opposite, 1-3" long, .375-.625' wide, simple, oblong-lanceolate, flat deep green

Twigs: leaf scars connected by stipular line, pith white, grayish

Flowers: monoecious, .5-.75' white flowers in clusters up to 3" long, bloom in May

Fruit: smell brown capsule

Bark: grayish

Deutzia scabra, Fuzzy Deutzia

Size: shrub, 6-10' average height at maturity (spread 4-8')

Buds: small, brown imbricate

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 1-4" long, up to 2" wide, simple ovate to oblong-lanceolate, rounded at base, apex acute or obtusely acuminate, crenate-denticulate margins, dull green in summer, no real fall color change, stellate pubescent on both surfaces, upper surface rough and sandpapery

Twigs: brown with stellate pubescence when young, exfoliating bark with time, arched spreading

Flowers: solid white or white with pinkish outer edges, .5-.75" long and wide, clustered in 3-6" long upright cylindrical panicles, branched from primary axis, bloom in May -June, 2 weeks after Deutzia gracilis

Fruit: understated, numerous

Diervilla sessilifolia, Dwarf Bush Honeysuckle

Size: shrub, 3-5' average height and spread at maturity

Buds: tan, chaffy, fairly loose scales, often superposed, with about 5 pairs of bud scales

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 2-6" long, 1-3" wide, simple, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate tips, sharply serrate margins, very short petioles, emerges purple-bronze, dark green in summer, can be red-purple in fall

Twigs: usually with 4 decurrent lines, beneath and between leaf scars, large white pith

Flowers: monoecious, sulphr yellow, .5" in summer, cymes to 3"

Fruit: capsules persistent, shaped like rows of miniature bottles

Hypericum frondosum, Golden St. Johnswort

Size: shrub, 3-4' average height and spread at maturity

Buds: very small, green-brown, 2 scales

Leaves: deciduous to semi-evergreen, opposite, simple, linear to oblanceolate, margins entire and irregular, apex bristle-tipped, bright green in spring, bluish-green in summer, glandular dots on upper surface, yellow-green in fall

Twigs: slender, angular, red-brown, upright spreading branches

Flowers: monoecious, bright yellow, 1-2" wide with a .75" mass of stamens at the center, 5 petals, solitary, bloom in June-July

Fruit: .5" long, broad base, 3 cells, red-brown to red-purple capsule, persists into spring

Bark: red-brown, exfoliating in shaggy, papery sheets

Hypericum kalmianum 'Ames', Ames Kalm St. Johnswort

Size: shrub, 2-4' average height and spread at maturity

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 1-2" long, .125"-.33" wide, simple, linear-oblong to oblanceolate, blue-green above, glaucous below

Twigs: 4-angled, brown

Flowers: perfect, bright yellow, 1-1.5" diameter, bloom in 3-flowered cymes in July

Fruit: dry, dehiscent, 4-5 cell ovate capsule

Rhodotypos scandens, Jetbead

Size: shrub, 3-6' average height at maturity (4-9' spread)

Buds: imbricate, bud scales green and black

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 2.5-4" long, 1.25-2" wide, simple, ovate to ovate-oblong, acuminate tips, sharply double serrate, prominent parallel veins, light to dark green, shiny

Twigs: threadlike stipules persist, adjacent to bud, leaf scars connected by a stipular line

Flowers: monoecious, white, 1-2" wide, 4 petals, bloom May to early June

Fruit: black, hard, very persistant, shiny, often in groups of 4

Bark: old stems gray-streaked, red-brown, orange lenticels

Spiraea japonica (x bumalda), Little Princess Spirea

Size: shrub, 2.5' average height at maturity

Buds: small, numerous, light-colored, contrasting with twig color

Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 1-1.5" long, .375-.5" wide, simple, narrow oblong obovate, usually toothed at rounded apex, dark blue-green

Twigs: lined or ridged, leaves often persist at tips

Flowers: monoecious, white flowers in small clusters in late May into June

Fruit: small terminal clusters at tips of lateral twigs of older wood

Spiraea nipponica 'Snowmound', Nippon Spirea

Size: shrub, 3.5' average height and spread at maturity

Buds: small, numerous, light-colored, contrasting with twig color

Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 1-1.5" long, .375-.5" wide, simple, narrow oblong obovate, usually toothed at rounded apex, dark blue-green

Twigs: lined or ridged, leaves often persist at tips

Flowers: monoecious, white flowers in small clusters in late May into June

Fruit: small terminal clusters at tips of lateral twigs of older wood

Spiraea x vanhouttei, Vanhoutte Spirea

Size: shrub, 6-8' average height at maturity (spread 10-12')

Buds: small, conical, pointed, about same width as twig, at a 45 to 90 degree angle

Leaves: deciduous, alternate, .75-1.75" long, .5-1.25" wide, simple, rhombic ovate, pointed tip, irregular coarse teeth

Twigs: very slender, glabrous, light to dark gray

Flowers: monoecious, white, .33" each in clusters of 1-2" wide on short pedicels along one side of the stem, bloom in April or May, clusters persistent

Bark: exfoliates on old wood

Symphoricarpos x doorenbosii 'Magic Berry', Magic Berry Doorenbos Coralberry

Size: shrub, 3' average height at maturity

Leaves: deciduous, opposite, small, simple

Flowers: monoecious,profuse small coral-colored fruit in fall