Tree · Cornaceae
Alternateleaf dogwood
Cornus alternifolia
Alternateleaf dogwood is recorded as native to 28 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 783 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Alternateleaf dogwood at a glance
- Native in
- 783 counties, across 28 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b PLANTS minimum temperature −47°F
- Mature height
- 25 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −47°F; zone 2b winters bottom out at −45°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Alternateleaf dogwood is recorded as native to 28 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 783 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 783 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 13 counties
- Arkansas 4 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- Florida 4 counties
- Georgia 17 counties
- Illinois 34 counties
- Indiana 51 counties
- Kentucky 42 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 64 counties
- Minnesota 47 counties
- Mississippi 5 counties
- Missouri 30 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 39 counties
- North Carolina 20 counties
- Ohio 77 counties
- Pennsylvania 66 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 4 counties
- Tennessee 34 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 52 counties
- West Virginia 35 counties
- Wisconsin 68 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 25 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 24 to 70 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 4.8 to 7.3
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −47°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Cornaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- COAL2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Cornus alternifolia (PLANTS symbol COAL2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources