Pacific Dogwoods

Our featured plant in the What’s Happening in Our Watershed project for October is the Pacific Dogwood. In our watershed, Mountain Dogwood (also called Pacific Dogwood, Cornus nuttallii) is a small- to medium-sized tree that frequents moist, shady forests in the middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada. It is often found in Giant Sequoias groves. In late spring, Mountain Dogwood’s large, white flowers beautifully complement the red bark of its sequoia neighbors. For those seeking autumn forest color, you don’t have to travel to the eastern U.S.. Once cold weather comes to our watershed, the deciduous leaves of Mountain Dogwood turn a rainbow of yellows, oranges, reds and purples.

The line drawing below was created by Mady Neufeld. You’re welcome to print out and color the image below. You can also download the file here. For additional information, including photographs and range maps, visit Calscape.