Dogwood Bonsai (Cornus Kousa, by Bonsai Plaza)
General information about the Dogwood Bonsai tree
Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by white, pink or yellow petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. Stone fruits develop from the ovaries and the seeds are often distributed by birds or even monkeys in some countries.
Among the most popular dogwood species for bonsai are the European cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) with yellow flowers and edible oval red stone fruit, the very similar Asian cornelian cherry (Cornus officinalis), the common dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) with white flowers and round black berries, the Japanese dogwood (Cornus kousa) with flowers with four white bracts and round compound red berries, the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) with four white, pink or red bracts and fruit clusters of up to ten drupes. Dogwood species are frost-hardy, but their roots need some protection from strong frost when they are planted in bonsai containers.
If you need help identifying your tree, take a look at our Bonsai tree identification guide.
