Cornus alba
Common name: 
Tatarian Dogwood
Tartarian Dogwood
Pronunciation: 
KOR-nus AHL-ba
Family: 
Cornaceae
Genus: 
Cornus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf deciduous shrub, 8-10 ft (2.3-3 m) high, spreading to 5-10 ft (1.5-3 m), multi-stemmed, upright in youth, and arching with age, suckers form large colonies. Stems are greenish-red in summer, turn blood-red in fall and winter, prominent lenticels. Difficult to separate C. alba and C. sericea on winter characteristics. Leaves opposite, simple, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 5-11 cm long, usually rounded at base, margin entire, dark green and somewhat wrinkled above, waxy bloom (glaucous) below, 5-6 pairs of veins. Flowers perfect, small, yellowish white, in 2-2.5 cm flat-topped clusters (cymes). Fruit white, or somewhat blueish, globose, stone (seed) is higher than wide.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 3        Native to north central and eastern Asia (Siberia, Manchuria, to northern Korea), in part areas inhabited by Tatars of Tartars.
  • Taxonomy: In the pasts few years there have been several taxonmic changes in the genus Cornus, especially regarding the deciduous shrubs. Here I avoid the reasons for the changes and just provide the current (2025) classificatiion according to the Word Flora Online (WFO, https://www.worldfloraonline.org/).
    • Cornus alba: accepted name, some related plants are now considered synonyms of this species; including C. siberica and C. tartarica (see WFO for full listings)
    • Cornus sericea: accepted name, synonyms include C. sericea subsp. sericea, C. stolonifera, C. stolonifera var. californica
    • Cornus sanguinea and Cornus sanguinea subsp. sanguinea: both accepted names
    • Cornus torreyi: accepted name, synonyms include C. occidentalis and C. sericea subsp. occidentalis
  • Common cultivars include:
    • 'Argenteo-marginata' - leaves have irregular creamy-white margins and gray-green centers
    • 'Elegantissima' - leaves have irregular creamy-white margins and gray-green centers
    • 'Hessei' - dwarf, dense, upright branches and a spreading habit, leaves small, crinkled
    • Ivory Halo™ - dwarf, compact, leaves irregular creamy-white margins and gray-green centers
    • 'Siberica' - coral red stems, fruit bluish, rounded leaf with a short apex
  • cornus: the Latin for Cornus mas.  alba: white, the fruit
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, flowering

    plant habit, flowering

  • foliage, flower clusters, stems

    foliage, flower clusters, stems

  • flower cluster

    flower cluster

  • developing and mature fruit clusters

    developing and mature fruit clusters

  • plant habit, winter

    plant habit, winter.

  • stems, winter

    stems, winter