Dogwood Trees in North Carolina
- A flowering dogwood blooming in the spring forest landscapeDon Smith/Photodisc/Getty Images
North Carolina's natural landscapes are varied, but those that support native dogwood tree species tend to have fertile, moist soils that are acidic in pH. Coldest winters occur in the western mountains and become shorter and milder the farther southeast you travel into the low coastal plain. Dogwood trees survive chilly winters and long, warm and humid summers in the Tarheel State and grow best in partially shaded situations. - The U.S. Forest Service notes that small pockets of gray dogwood trees (Cornus racemosa) occur in the western mountains of North Carolina, even though the contiguous natural range of this tree begins just to the north in the mountains of Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Gray dogwood is a decidous, thicket-forming small tree with multiple trunks growing 16 feet tall and equally as wide. Late spring finds flattened clusters of tiny white flowers that later yield whitish fruits in autumn. Fall leaf color is purplish red.
- Also called the silky dogwood, swamp dogwood (Cornus amomum) grows as a small, multiple-stemmed tree 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide. This species prospers in the damp to saturated acidic woodland soils in the far eastern lowlands of North Carolina. Its leaves become orange, red or purple in fall, contrasting the metallic blue-gray fruits. The white flowers occur in mid to late spring in arching clusters on branch tips.
- The state flower of North Carolina, flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is native to all parts of the state in moist, acidic soiled woodlands. The flowers occur in early to mid spring as other forest trees are just starting to leaf out. Flowering dogwood's true flowers are tiny clusters of green-yellow blossoms surrounded by four showy white bracts. Naturally occurring variety rubra produces pink bracts and is uncommon to encounter in the wild. Fall foliage color ranges from pink and burgundy purple to orange and red. The Western North Carolina Nature Center says flowering dogwood matures 30 to 55 feet tall; spread of the tiered branching canopy is between 20 and 35 feet wide.
- Duke University states that the alternative-leaved or pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) is found mainly in the moist, cool soils of the North Carolina mountains and is rare in the piedmont region. This tree, growing 15 to 25 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide, bears puffy clusters of greenish white flowers in late summer. By autumn the tiered branches display blue-black fruits. Fall leaf color is maroon to red-purple.
