Photo: Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Pagoda Dogwood

Cornus alternifolia

Also called alternate-leaf dogwood, blue dogwood, green osier, pigeonberry, Swida alternifolia.

A small dogwood with branches held in flat tiers like a pagoda, cream flower clusters in late spring and blue-black fruit on red stalks.

Showy flowersWildlife valueFall colorTolerates shadeWinter interest

Type: Small tree
Mature height: 15–25 ft
USDA zones: 3–8
Growth rate: Slow
Sun: Full, Part, Shade
Soil moisture: Average
Grows wild in: The forest understory, rich moist slopes, stream banks and the Appalachians
Native range: 30 states, north and west to Minnesota and south to Florida
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Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin
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Pagoda dogwood is the only native dogwood whose leaves grow alternately rather than in pairs. Its branches spread in flat, level tiers, which gave it its name, and in winter the tiers catch the snow. Unlike flowering dogwood it has no showy bracts, but its flower clusters are fragrant. It is an understory tree of cool, moist hardwood forests with four seasons of interest. Plant it near a patio, at a woodland edge or in a bird garden.

Size, growth and what to expect

Pagoda dogwood grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. Expect 15 to 25 feet with a crown 20 to 30 feet wide. In the forest it may reach 30 feet. Seedlings bear their first fruit at 2 to 6 years.

Flat clusters of fragrant, creamy white flowers open in May and June. The fruit ripens blue-black on red stalks from July into September. At least 11 kinds of birds eat it, ruffed grouse among them, and so do black bears. The leaves turn reddish purple in fall. It hosts spring azure caterpillars.

It grows wild from Newfoundland to Minnesota and south to Arkansas and the Florida Panhandle. It lives in hardwood forests, on rocky slopes and along streams. Florida, at the south end of its range, lists it as endangered.

How to grow Pagoda Dogwood

Pagoda dogwood does best in part shade and a cool, moist, acid soil that drains well, and it takes full sun where summers stay cool. In hot summers give it afternoon shade and shelter from wind. It does poorly above zone 7. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and at least 15 feet from overhead wires, and set trees 20 feet apart.

Saplings ship potted. The shallow roots do not take well to moving. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the pot and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and spread mulch over the roots, clear of the trunk. Sow the cleaned stones outdoors as soon as the fruit turns blue-black in summer, half an inch deep. They need two months of warmth and then two of cold, so many wait until the second spring. For spring, give stored stones 60 days warm and then 60 in the refrigerator first.

Water weekly through the first two summers, and keep the roots cool under mulch. Deer, rabbits and beavers all eat its leaves and stems. Cage young trees for their first few winters. For a small tree rather than a shrub, choose one leader early.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair. Its main trouble is golden canker, which turns twigs bright yellow or orange and kills them back from the tips. The fungus lives in many healthy trees and harms only weak ones, so keeping the tree vigorous is the best defense. Leaf spots, blights and scale can also show up, and wind and ice can break it.

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

Sources (11)