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Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

 

Interesting & key characteristics:

Height: The average height is 40ft, spread 35ft with a medium growth rate

Fruit: Has scarlet, egg shaped berries

Bark: Purplish green on young twigs

Flowers: Small and white, surrounded by 4 large, white petal-like bracts; they appear before the leaves in early spring.

 

Unique benefit (how it helps our planet):

A lot of animals rely on the flowering dogwood as a food source for wild turkey and forest birds. This tree is mostly used for landscaping.

 

Sources: Missouri trees, Missouri Department of Conservation; Show Me Trees, Leaf Identification Guide, Missouri Department of Conservation

 

The Story Behind the Tree:

This dogwood tree was planted in honor of four Forsyth teachers during the 50th anniversary of the school. Coach Stone was one of the teachers honored so we asked her the story behind the tree. From Coach Stone, we learned that you have to work at Forsyth for 20 years in order to get a tree planted in your honor. We also learned that the flowering dogwood is one of her favorite native trees, and it's also Missouri's state tree.  In addition, Coach Stone also said she’s planted several dogwood trees from the seedlings!  These types of trees can be very hard to grow - out of the 25 seedlings she planted, only three survived.

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