Kousa Dogwood – Identification

Q: What are the trees that have white blooms that look like dogwood flowers in May?

A: Very likely you are seeing kousa dogwoods, Cornus kousa. These Asian dogwoods are very similar to our familiar spring dogwoods but they bloom later, when the tree has leaves.

I like this tree a lot, both for the flowers and because it can handle more sunshine than native dogwoods. They are also more disease resistant than the native dogwoods.

There are several varieties: ‘Stellar Pink’, ‘Milky Way’, ‘Constellation’ and ‘Galaxy’ are excellent.

The flowers are followed in fall by masses of distinct pink fruit.

kousa dogwood

kousa dogwood flower

kousa dogwood fruit