2. Cornus florida urbiniana, Mexican Flowering Dogwood

Mexican Flowing Dogwood, Cornus florida urbiniana

Leaves and flower bracts

This unusual flower bract form is like a complex origami, folded lantern

Fall berries with tiny flower buds

Ovate leaf in an opposite arrangement

2. Mexican Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida urbiniana

Artist’s Note:

This charming small vase-shaped tree sits in a perennial garden bed on the Tupper Street fence. LBH&G has many rare, uncommon shrubs and trees in its collection, but this specimen is truly a standout.

 

Hundreds of unusual flowers like little folded origami lanterns cover its branches in early spring. Intriguingly, the bracts are connected in intricate folds that connect the tips but are not fused. I love the top-down view of the flowers. In fall and winter, the tiny flowers in the center turn into bright red berries creating yet another stunning seasonal display and an important food source for birds. 

 

Vulgo: Mexican Flowering Dogwood

 

Name: Cornus florida urbiniana

 

Family: Cornaceae

Habit: Tree

Height: 16–30 ft (5–10 M)

Native to: North America and Northern Mexico

 

Leaf type: Simple

 

Shape: Ovate

 

Tip: Acuminate

 

Margin: Sinuate

 

Venation: Pinnate

 

Surface: Smooth

 

Size: 2–4 in (5–10 M)

 

Arrangement: Opposite

Pen and ink: Amber R Turner © 2020