Giant Dogwood

An oil used in the lubricating and soap industry is extracted from the fruit. The large, conspicuous, white inflorescences, layered branching pattern, and pagodalike shape of the tree make it a good garden ornamental. The leaves are used in folk remedies to relieve pain and to reduce swelling.

The synonym Cornus obovata Thunberg is an invalid name.

Trees 3–13(–20) m tall. Bark dark gray or yellowish gray, smooth; branches ± horizontal; branches of current year purplish, later greenish, glabrous or pubescent; older branches greenish, with conspicuous semicircular leaf scars and rounded lenticels; winter buds purplish, ovoid or conical, 3–8 mm, glabrous, with several alternate overlapping scales. Leaf blade broadly ovate or broadly elliptic-ovate, 5–13 × 3–9 cm, abaxially light or grayish green, sparsely pubescent with appressed trichomes, papillate, veins 6 or 7(–9), abaxially raised and slightly purplish, base subrounded, apex acute or acuminate. Corymbose cymes terminal, 5–14 cm in diam., pubescent with appressed trichomes. Flowers 8–9 mm in diam.; buds nearly orbicular, shortly pedicellate. Calyx teeth ca. 0.5 mm, taller than disk. Petals oblong-lanceolate, 3–4.5 × 1–1.6 mm. Stamens longer than petals; filaments whitish, 4–5 mm. Style 2–3 mm, glabrous. Fruit purplish red or bluish black, globose, 6–7 mm in diam.; stones globose, 5–6 mm in diam., inconspicuously 8-ribbed. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Sep. 2n = 20.

Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shan- dong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, N India, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, ?Sikkim].

Broad-leaved or mixed broad-leaved and coniferous forests; 200–2600 m.

Flowering from May to June; fruiting from July to September.

Cornus controversa is occurring in Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang of China, Bhutan, N India, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal.

The phylogenetic relationships of Cornus has been inferred using nuclear gene 26S rDNA (Fan and Xiang, 2001). The 26S rDNA sequence data suggested that Cornus controversa is closely related to C. walteri.

Trees 3-17 m tall. Bark dark gray or yellowish gray, smooth; branches ± horizontal; branches of current year purplish, later greenish, glabrous or pubescent; older branches greenish, with conspicuous semicircular leaf scars and rounded lenticels; winter buds purplish, ovoid or conical, 3-8 mm, glabrous, with several alternate overlapping scales. Leaf blade broadly ovate or broadly elliptic-ovate, 5-13 cm long, 3-9 cm wide, abaxially light or grayish green, sparsely pubescent with appressed trichomes, papillate, veins 6 or 7, abaxially raised and slightly purplish, base subrounded, apex acute or acuminate. Corymbose cymes terminal, 5-14 cm in diameter, pubescent with appressed trichomes. Flowers 8-9 mm in diameter; buds nearly orbicular, shortly pedicellate. Calyx teeth ca. 0.5 mm, taller than disk. Petals oblong-lanceolate, 3-4.5 mm long, 1-1.6 mm wide. Stamens longer than petals; filaments whitish, 4-5 mm. Style 2-3 mm, glabrous. Fruit purplish red or bluish black, globose, 6-7 mm in diameter; stones globose, 5-6 mm in diameer, inconspicuously 8-ribbed.

The chromosomal number of Cornus controversa is 2n = 20 (Oginuma et al., 1994).

Growing in broad-leaved or mixed broad-leaved and coniferous forests; 200-2600 m.

An oil is extracted from the fruits of Cornus controversa for used in the lubricating and soap industry. The large, conspicuous, white inflorescences, layered branching pattern, and pagodalike shape of the tree make it a good garden ornamental. The leaves are used in folk remedies to relieve pain and to reduce swelling.

Cornus controversa (wedding cake tree), syn. Swida controversa, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cornus of the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to China, Korea, the Himalayas and Japan. It is a deciduous tree growing to 50 ft (15 m), with multiple tiered branches. Flat panicles of white flowers (cymes to 3–7 in (8–18 cm) wide) appear in summer, followed by globose black fruit (drupes to 1⁄2 in (13 mm)). Ovate dark green leaves (3–6 in (8–15 cm) long) are glaucous underneath and turn red-purple in autumn. It is cultivated in gardens and parks in temperate regions.

It is also sometimes referred to as Bothrocaryum controversum (Hemsl.) Pojark when seeds are offered for online sale.

The variety C. controversa 'Variegata' has leaves with cream margins, which turn yellow in autumn, and grows to a lesser size than its parent – typically 25 ft (8 m). It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.