Cornus kousa - Kousa Dogwood (Cornaceae) ------Cornus kousa is a multi-season small tree. Kousa Twigs Dogwood is noted for its early summer, long-lasting -tan to dark brown and very slender, with numerous flowers, autumn fruits, good summer foliage and lenticels occasional autumn color, winter bark, layered -vegetative buds are thin and conical, while the floral branching, and vased habit. buds are pointed and oval, with the 2 floral bud scales slightly separated at the edge of the bud FEATURES Trunk Form -multi-trunked, or single-trunked with low branching -small deciduous ornamental tree -light brown-gray trunks are interrupted by smooth -maturing at about 20' tall x 20' yellow-beige or dark gray-white blotches that make wide the bark rather ornamental with age -upright vased growth habit in -bark becomes more mottled and ornamental if the youth, with branches becoming lower branches of the tree are removed with maturity, horizontally layered with age exposing the lower trunks to more light -slow growth rate Culture USAGE -full sun to partial shade Function -adaptable to dry soils, compacted soils, and neutral -specimen, foundation, entranceway, border, to alkaline soils; needs irrigation during the hot, dry understory, focal point, or seasonal accent small tree periods of summer, to minimize leaf scorch, Texture especially during establishment (ca. 3 yrs.) -medium in foliage and medium-fine when bare -no serious disease or pest problems -thick density in foliage and when bare -abundantly available Assets -much more pH adaptable to alkaline pH soils and is -small ornamental tree with four-season appeal often more tolerant of dry soils than is Flowering (foliage, flowers, fruits, bark, shape, and bark) Dogwood -very long-lasting and showy flowers, blooming in Foliage late spring and early summer -opposite, broad elliptic, sometimes with undulating -ornamental bark with age leaf margins, with the major leaf veins parallel to the -superior disease/pest resistance among the showy curving leaf margins Flowering Dogwoods -medium to dark green, to 3" long, often having Liabilities scorched leaf tips and leaf margins by late summer if -not especially tolerant of urban stresses (but usually sited in full sun, and during prolonged dry periods more so than Flowering Dogwood) -autumn color ranges from an inconsistent reddish Habitat purple (in full sun) to green or yellowish green (in -Zones 5 to 8 partial shade) -Native to the Orient Flowers -the true flowers SELECTIONS are small yellow- Alternates green -trees with showy flowers and ornamental bark inflorescences (Cercis canadensis, Chionanthus retusus, Cornus centered among florida, Crataegus viridis 'Winter King', Syringa the 4, showy, reticulata, etc.) white bracts, each -vase-shaped companion trees (Prunus serrulata obovate and 'Kwanzan', Zelkova serrata, etc.) or shrubs distinctly (Euonymus alatus, Viburnum plicatum var. acuminate, the tomentosum 'Mariesii', etc.) entire Cultivars - Variants - Related species inflorescence is -C. kousa 'Gold Star' - variegated foliage has a central about 3" wide golden stripe, which reverts to green by late summer -inflorescences are -C. kousa 'Lustgarten Weeping' - a weeping form prominently lifted often grafted onto a 2-5' standard, spreading to 3' above the stem high (above the graft) x 15' wide, with flowers and branch plane prominently viewed along the arching, pendulous by 2" tall vertical stems peduncles -C. kousa 'Moonbeam' - flowers 7" in diameter -flowering in June and early July, with a 4-6 week instead of the normal 3" bloom period, including the early period when the -C. kousa 'Satomi' - faded pink flowers bracts are small, lime-colored, and expanding -C. kousa var. chinensis 'Milky Way' - much Fruits heavier flower and fruit production, and the most -globular green fruits turn to pink, then dull red in common cultivar Sept., resembling large solitary upright raspberries on -Cornus 'Rutban' Constellation® (PP7210) - white a 2" peduncle (fruiting stalk) flowering hybrid of Kousa and Flowering Dogwoods, -intriguing in contrast to the green foliage, but fruit resistant to the borers and anthracnose that sometimes set is usually light, sparsely scattered above the plague Flowering Dogwood foliage, and readily eaten by birds and squirrels -Cornus 'Rutban' Stellar Pink® (PP7207) - similar to the above hybrid, but pink flowering