Dogwood

About the Dogwood

The Flowering Dogwood is the signature spring tree of the American Southeast, lighting up the understory with layered white blooms before the forest canopy leafs out. The four white petals are actually bracts, modified leaves surrounding the tiny greenish true flowers at the center.

Dogwood is as valuable as it is beautiful: its fat-rich red berries fuel fall songbird migration, and dozens of bird species depend on them. In Texas it graces the Piney Woods, and eastward it defines spring from the Carolinas to the Gulf.

This flowering tree was photographed at Fair Play, South Carolina, in peak late-March bloom.