# Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii)

> Pacific dogwood, Cornus nuttallii: its height and zones, when it flowers and fruits, where it grows wild, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/pacific-dogwood/

![Pacific dogwood flowers with broad white bracts on branches in a shady conifer forest](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/pacific-dogwood-1000.jpg?v=59499a9a "Pacific dogwood in flower along the Weldon Wagon Road in the Columbia River Gorge on May 5, 2018. Many birds are drawn to its fruits.")
*Photo: brewbooks, [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APacific_Dogwood_%28Cornus_nuttallii%29_-_41122334905.jpg))*

Medium tree, 15 to 50 feet where planted, zones 7 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Pacific dogwood, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Pacific Dogwood |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Mountain dogwood, western dogwood, Pacific flowering dogwood, mountain flowering dogwood |
| Form | Medium tree |
| Height, feet | 15 to 50 where planted; up to 79 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 25 |
| Zones | 7 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Showy flowers, fall color, wildlife value |
| Flowers | April to July |
| Fruit | Drupes, September to October |
| First crop | About 6 years (first flowers; seed from 10 in the seed manual) |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | The forest understory, stream banks and rich moist slopes |
| Native in | 4 states |

Pacific dogwood is native in 4 states: [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR) and [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=pacific-dogwood): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Black Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-cherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus serotina*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes in the wild.
- [American Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-plum/index.html.md) (*Prunus americana*): small tree, 15 to 25 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Every companion of Pacific dogwood in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=pacific-dogwood)

## Read from

Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, the Wildflower Center, Calscape and the Jepson eFlora.