Description

Leaves: Opposite; simple; oval; 3" to 6" long; deciduous; leaf veins parallel margin in an arc; entire margin; surfaces hairy; bright green above; paler beneath; petiole short; turning scarlet in fall.

Twigs/buds: Twigs slender; purple; more or less covered with a white, waxy coating; red to purple-red fall color.  Terminal bud 1/8" long, 2 scales meet in a straight line without overlapping; flower buds look like small lanterns or urns on branch tips.

Flowers/fruit: Flowers perfect; yellow; inconspicuous; arranged in a 1/2" wide head; surrounded by 4 large showy white or deep pink bracts, 3" to 4" across; appear in early spring before leaves.  Fruit a drupe; bright red; about 1/3" long; in compact clusters.

Bark: Thin; dark red-brown; broken into small, square blocks; very distinctive.

Wood: Unimportant; sapwood light pink-brown; heartwood dark brown; hard; heavy; growth rings distinct but not sharply delineated; diffuse-porous; rays visible to naked eye.

General: Native to most of the eastern U.S.  A small tree that occurs naturally in the shady understory of other trees.  Very shade tolerant.

Landscape Use: A good, small tree widely planted as an ornamental because of its beautiful flowers, good fall color, and ornamental fruit.  Sensitive to pollution and not well-adapted to alkaline soils.  Worth trying in protected situations, preferably with some shade.  I have seen a pink-flowered variety doing well and blooming every year near downtown Logan.  Zones 5-9 (many cultivars are of southern origin and will not flower reliably or do well in cold areas; in zones 5 and 6 make sure your tree is from a more northern source). 

Cultivars: 'Appalachian Spring', 'Cherokee Brave', 'Cherokee Chief', 'Cherokee Princess', 'Cherokee Sunset', 'Cloud Nine', 'First Lady', 'Pluribracteata', 'Rubra', 'Weaver's White', 'Welch's Bay Beauty'.

Characteristics