Cornouiller Blanc

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / saprobe
acervulus of Cheirospora coelomycetous anamorph of Cheirospora botryospora is saprobic on dead twig of Cornus alba
Remarks: season: 3-9
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
covered, in groups of 3-5, eventually merging to become plurilocular stroma of Cytospora coelomycetous anamorph of Cytospora corni is saprobic on branch of Cornus alba

Foodplant / saprobe
more or less scattered, finally erumpent pycnidium of Phomopsis coelomycetous anamorph of Diaporthe corni is saprobic on dead, attached twig of Cornus alba
Remarks: season: 3-11

Foodplant / spot causer
few, epiphyllous pycnidium of Phyllosticta coelomycetous anamorph of Phyllosticta cornicola causes spots on live leaf of Cornus alba
Remarks: season: 8-10

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed pseudothecium of Pseudomassaria corni is saprobic on dead twig of Cornus alba

The seeds contain 30% oil, which is used industrially. Cornus alba is commonly cultivated as an ornamental.

Shrubs deciduous, spreading, to 3 m tall. Bark purplish red; young branches terete, pubescent with short whitish trichomes, later glabrous, glaucous; old branches reddish, with scattered grayish white rounded lenticels; leaf scars semicircular, conspicuous. Leaf blade abaxially glaucous green, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 5–8.5 × 1.8–5.5 cm, papery, veins (4 or)5(or 6), pubescent with short white appressed trichomes, axils of veins sometimes with a cluster of long brown trichomes, small veins conspicuous, base cuneate or broadly cuneate, margin entire or slightly revolute, apex acute. Corymbose cymes dense, ca. 3 cm wide, pubescent with soft white trichomes. Pedicel 2–6.5 mm, slender. Flowers white or yellowish white, 6–8.2 mm in diam. Calyx lobes sharply triangular, 0.1–0.2 mm, shorter than disk. Petals 3–3.8 × 1.1–1.8 mm. Stamens longer than petals; anthers yellowish. Style cylindrical, 2.1–2.5 mm; stigma disciform, broader than style. Fruit creamy white or bluish white at maturity, oblong-globose, laterally slightly compressed, ca. 8 mm, 5.5–6 mm in diam.; stones ± diamond-shaped, laterally compressed, ca. 5 × 3 mm, 3-ribbed on each side. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Aug–Oct.

Mixed broad-leaved and coniferous forests, mixed thickets by streams; 600–1700(–2700 m). Gansu, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong [Korea, Mongolia, Russia; Europe].

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cornus alba.

Cornus alba, the red-barked, white or Siberian dogwood, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cornaceae, native to Siberia, northern China and Korea. It is a large deciduous surculose (suckering) shrub that can be grown as a small tree. As a popular ornamental used in landscaping its notable features include the red stems in fall (autumn) through late winter, bright winter bark; and the variegated foliage in some cultivars, such as C. alba 'Elegantissima'. C. alba can grow to 3 m (10 ft) high, but variegated forms are less vigorous. For the brightest winter bark, young shoots are encouraged by cutting to the ground some older stems at the end of the winter, before leaves are open. The oval fruits are white, sometimes tinted blue.

The plant is extremely hardy, to USDA Zone 3 - −40 °C (−40 °F).

The Latin specific epithet alba means “white”.

The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017):-

'Aurea' (yellow leaves) 'Elegantissima' (deep red stems and small white flowers) 'Sibirica' (2.5 m (8 ft 2 in), brilliant red stems, cream flowers) 'Spaethii' (variegated leaves with yellow margins)