Dogwood or strawberry tree

Common name: Dogwood or strawberry tree

Latin name: Cornus kousa subsp. chinensis

Family: Cornaceae

Origin: China

Features:

Small tree with rounded and expanded foliage when ripe, erect posture, reaching a maximum height and a canopy diameter of 7-9 metres.
It has a very slow growth and it takes 20-50 years on average before the plant reaches its maximum development. It prefers acidic and well drained soils and develops best in full sun or in light shade.
In late spring this spectacular flowering tree is covered with countless creamy white bracts of considerable size that give the plant a great look. The bracts are actually four modified leaves that surround the real flowers, small and greenish. The flowers follow flashy green pedunculated fruits, globose berries which ripen reddening in late summer and early autumn until they become bright red.
They are very special and pleasant to the eye for many weeks, but the birds love them, so they disappear quickly from our gardens as soon as they mature. The deciduous leaves are simple, oval and pointed, dark green in summer and with a significant variation in red-orange-purplish tones during the autumn. The bark in this plant is very decorative and showy, in mature specimens the extensive exfoliation develops an intense luminosity in the greyness of the winter garden.

Curiosity: the fruits are edible and similar to small strawberries.

Selection of the park: shrubby plant; polymormic; height 130-180 cm.