Cornus oblonga Wall. — Indian dogwood

Introduction

Indian dogwood is an evergreen shrub or tree of the Himalaya, southern China, and mainland Southeast Asia, with a range extending from Pakistan and the western Himalaya through Nepal, India, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to south-central China. It grows in broad-leaved evergreen and mixed forests and thickets from about 800 to 3700 m. White flowers are produced unusually late, from autumn into winter, while black fruits mature mainly in spring (Xiang & Boufford 2005; Trees and Shrubs Online 2026).

The species is a central member of subgenus Yinquania, an early-diverging blue-fruited dogwood lineage. Modern genomic work places Yinquania near the base of the Swida clade; Du et al. (2023) expanded the modern concept to include the Chinese C. parviflora alongside C. oblonga and the geographically remarkable South American C. peruviana. The evergreen habit and autumn-winter flowering of C. oblonga are therefore evolutionarily informative rather than merely horticultural curiosities.

Tree TSAR retains the three-variety framework used in Flora of China: var. oblonga has short appressed hairs beneath the leaves; var. glabrescens is essentially glabrous beneath; and var. griffithii has dense, longer soft hairs. This differs from POWO, which currently sinks both non-nominate varieties into species-level synonymy. Tree TSAR also keeps var. siamica in species-level synonymy without forcing it into one of the three accepted varieties, and excludes Ardisia discolor from active dogwood synonymy because contemporary Primulaceae treatments accept that name as a true Ardisia.

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

Cornus oblonga is uncommon in cool-temperate horticulture but can be an attractive evergreen dogwood in mild climates. Trees and Shrubs Online places it approximately in USDA Zones 8-11 and notes that the autumn-to-midwinter flowers can provide conspicuous seasonal interest above evergreen foliage. Successful cultivation is best expected in sheltered, moist, well-drained sites that approximate subtropical or warm-temperate mountain forests (Trees and Shrubs Online 2026).

Flora of China records several practical uses. The fruit has been used as a source of industrial oil and medicinally as a substitute for the fruit flesh of C. officinalis and C. chinensis. The bark contains essential oils and tannins and has been used in folk remedies for arthritis and injuries. These are ethnobotanical and industrial records; they should not be interpreted as clinical evidence for efficacy (Xiang & Boufford 2005).

For living collections, the accepted varieties should be documented separately when identification is reliable. Their most useful distinguishing character is leaf indumentum, so voucher material with mature leaves is particularly valuable.

Conservation Concerns

Trees and Shrubs Online summarizes Cornus oblonga as Least Concern. Its geographic range is broad, spanning several Himalayan and Southeast Asian countries, and it occupies a wide elevational band. There is no indication that the species as a whole is currently near extinction (Trees and Shrubs Online 2026).

That broad species-level status does not substitute for information about the accepted varieties. Var. glabrescens, in particular, has a much narrower documented Chinese distribution than the species as a whole. Conservation collections should therefore record variety and provenance rather than treating all C. oblonga accessions as interchangeable.

Additional Information

iNaturalist (opens in a new tab) - Direct species-level taxon page with community observations.
Trees and Shrubs Online (opens in a new tab) - Detailed species account, three-variety context, cultivation, and conservation summary.
Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab) - Accepted global backbone, distribution, and synonymy; currently synonymizes the two Tree TSAR non-nominate varieties.
Flora of China (opens in a new tab) - Regional description, three-variety key, habitat, phenology, and uses.

References and Further Reading

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. Link (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. Link (opens in a new tab)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026) Cornus oblonga Wall. Plants of the World Online. Link (opens in a new tab)

Trees and Shrubs Online (2026) Cornus oblonga. Link (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 and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, pp. 206-221. Link (opens in a new tab)