Yosemite Dogwood

There are four types of dogwood native to California: Mountain or Pacific Dogwood, a tree, and three shrubs: brown, red osier and blackfruit dogwood.  They all grow on moist lower slopes and in riparian zones.

Cornus nutalli is the tree, best known in Yosemite Valley for its showy, white “flowers” that beautifully decorate the banks of the Merced River each May. These flowers are actually modified leaves, called bracts. Pacific dogwood’s fruit is bright orange-red.

C. glabrata (brown dogwood) is a shrub that forms a dense thicket, rising to 15′. C. sericea (red osier) is a multistemmed shrub similar in size to the brown dogwood, and also has white or blue fruit. C. sessilis (blackfruit dogwood) grows to 10′ and distinctively has brownish-yellow bracts and black fruit. It’s often overlooked because it blooms so early in spring.

On Legarlin Li’s recent visit to Yosemite Valley, the dogwood he captured had vermilion leaves, though Pacific dogwood often show rose, pink and auburn.

An eagle’s eye view of the Valley indicated little to no fall color change, but that’s expected as dogwood and bigleaf maple, which are showing now, are hidden beneath a canopy of conifers.