Cornus macrophylla Wall. — Bigleaf dogwood

Introduction

Bigleaf dogwood is a deciduous large shrub or forest tree with one of the widest Asian ranges in Subgenus Thelycrania, extending from the western Himalaya across China to Korea, Japan, Sakhalin, and Taiwan. The broad, prominently veined leaves, wide white flower clusters, and purplish- to bluish-black fruit can make mature trees striking despite the absence of showy bracts (Xiang & Boufford 2005; Deasy et al. 2026).

Tree TSAR recognizes two varieties: var. macrophylla and var. stracheyi. It also departs from some current backbones by extracting C. alpina from synonymy after RAD-seq accessions bearing that name fell within a different southwestern Chinese radiation. The broader C. macrophylla complex still shows genomic structure that deserves further population sampling (Lindelof et al. 2020; Du et al. 2023).

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

Bigleaf dogwood has a long but intermittent history in temperate horticulture. In favorable conditions it can form a handsome medium-sized tree with glossy foliage, broad summer inflorescences, dark fruit, and autumn color. It performs best in moisture-retentive, reasonably fertile soils and can tolerate a range of woodland-edge conditions; Trees and Shrubs Online places most material around USDA Zones 7-8 (Deasy et al. 2026).

The breadth of the natural range means provenance matters. Himalayan, Chinese, Japanese, and other accessions need not behave identically in hardiness or phenology. Cultivar or garden identity should therefore be kept separate from the accepted botanical variety framework.

Conservation Concerns

Cornus macrophylla is assessed as Least Concern and remains widely distributed across temperate Asia (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2026). The conservation issue is therefore not imminent global extinction but representation of geographic and genetic diversity. Collections labeled simply at species level can obscure variety, provenance, and possible cryptic structure.

Additional Information

iNaturalist (opens in a new tab) - Direct taxon page with observations.
Trees and Shrubs Online (opens in a new tab) - Detailed morphology, horticultural history, and distribution.
Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab) - Accepted backbone, varieties, distribution, and conservation status.
IUCN Red List (opens in a new tab) - Global Least Concern assessment.

References and Further Reading

Deasy M, Crowley D, Aldridge J, Chişu R (2026) Cornus macrophylla. Trees and Shrubs Online. https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-macrophylla/ (opens in a new tab)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026) Cornus macrophylla Wall.. Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org/results?q=Cornus%20macrophylla%20Wall (opens in a new tab)

Xiang Q-Y, Boufford DE (2005) Cornaceae. In: Wu ZY, Raven PH, Hong DY (eds) Flora of China 14. Science Press, Beijing & Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, pp. 206-221. https://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=2 (opens in a new tab)

Lindelof K, Lindo JA, Zhou W, Ji X, Xiang Q-Y (2020) Phylogenomics, biogeography, and evolution of the blue- or white-fruited dogwoods (Cornus) - insights into morphological and ecological niche divergence following intercontinental geographic isolation. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 58(5): 604-645. https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.12676 (opens in a new tab)

Du Z-Y, Xiang Q-Y, Cheng J, Zhou W, Wang Q-F, Soltis DE, Soltis PS (2023) An updated phylogeny, biogeography, and PhyloCode-based classification of Cornaceae based on three sets of genomic data. American Journal of Botany 110(2): e16116. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16116 (opens in a new tab)