Cornus

Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and some species are evergreen. Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by an involucre of large, typically white petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. The various species of dogwood are native throughout much of temperate and boreal Eurasia and North America, with China, Japan, and the southeastern United States being particularly rich in native species. The genus is also known from South America with members such as Cornus peruviana.

Species include the common dogwood Cornus sanguinea of Eurasia, the widely cultivated flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) of eastern North America, the Pacific dogwood Cornus nuttallii of western North America, the Kousa dogwood Cornus kousa of eastern Asia, and two low-growing boreal species, the Canadian and Eurasian dwarf cornels (or bunchberries), Cornus canadensis and Cornus suecica respectively.

Depending on botanical interpretation, the dogwoods are variously divided into one to nine genera or subgenera; a broadly inclusive genus Cornus is accepted here.

Terminology

Cornus is the Latin word for the cornel tree, Cornus mas.

The name cornel dates to the 1550s, via German from Middle Latin cornolium, ultimately from the diminutive cornuculum, of cornum, the Latin word for the cornel cherry. Cornus means "horn",

presumably applied to the cherry after the example of κερασός, the Greek word for "cherry", which itself is of pre-Greek origin but reminiscent of κέρας, the Greek word for "horn".