Cornus capitata evergreen dogwood

Mountain Moon dogwood, Salvatierra Street. Sairus Patel, 7 Jun 2023

Leaves are opposite, with lateral veins arching towards the tip, a characteristic of virtually all dogwoods. The showy white petal-like bracts surround a central disc crammed with tiny, inconspicuous flowers; this develops into a round, strawberry-like aggregate fruit, likely accounting for capitata, denoting growth in a dense head. The fruits are eaten in parts of the species’ native range. Two old examples are behind Building 40.

The ‘Mountain Moon’ cultivar, often listed as C. capitata but likely involving C. elliptica in its parentage, has deservedly become more popular. Selected from a collection made in Bhutan, it bears remarkably large, creamy bracts whose tips curl backward, produced in such profusion in late spring as to fairly overwhelm the handsome evergreen foliage. The leaves are glossier than those of C. capitata, and the fruit heads can be much larger; I’ve seen some nearly 3 inches across. Three grow at 668 Salvatierra Street on the right. In Palo Alto, one stands behind the low wall at 2297 Harvard Street, and two flank the front door at 40 Crescent Drive. A tall specimen on the left side of the entry walkway at 267 Walter Hays Drive may be Palo Alto’s first, planted around 2002.

The genus name Cornus is related to the classical Greek name for C. mas, whose dense wood was used for spears in antiquity. This ancient association with hardness has led some, apparently erroneously, to connect the name with Latin cornu (horn). The origin of “dogwood” remains uncertain.