Cornus parviflora S.S.Chien — Smallflower dogwood

Introduction

Smallflower dogwood is a little-known Chinese shrub or small tree, usually about 3-8 m tall, native to Guangxi and Guizhou. It grows in dense to sparse forests and on open hillsides from about 300 to 2500 m. The species flowers in July and bears obovoid to nearly oblong fruit in August and September (Xiang & Boufford 2005).

Its modern phylogenetic placement is more interesting than its short synonym list. Older classifications often grouped C. parviflora with the core blue-fruited dogwoods, but genomic work by Du et al. (2023) recovered it in Yinquania together with C. peruviana and C. oblonga. Tree TSAR follows that result. The placement creates an unusual biogeographic pattern because its closest Yinquania relatives include the Himalayan-Southeast Asian C. oblonga and the Central and South American C. peruviana.

Nomenclaturally, the species is clean. POWO accepts the 1931 publication date and recognizes only Swida parviflora as a synonym. Tree TSAR accepts no infraspecific taxa.

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

No established horticultural or agricultural use specific to Cornus parviflora was located in the sources reviewed here. Its modest stature and forest-edge ecology suggest potential botanical-garden value, but there is not enough published cultivation information to recommend a reliable horticultural regime beyond avoiding unsupported generalization.

For ex situ collections, provenance-linked material would have unusual scientific value because the species is central to the revised circumscription of Yinquania. Living specimens tied to vouchers could support comparative morphology and genomic sampling across the subgenus.

Conservation Concerns

No formal global conservation assessment was located for Cornus parviflora. Its confirmed native range is limited to Guangxi and Guizhou, but it occurs across a broad elevational span and in more than one forest or open-hillside habitat type (Xiang & Boufford 2005; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2026).

Because range size alone does not establish threat level, Tree TSAR should avoid assigning an informal threatened category. Better georeferenced occurrence data, population trends, and habitat-condition information would be necessary for a defensible assessment.

Additional Information

Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab) - Accepted backbone, distribution, publication year, and synonymy.
Flora of China (opens in a new tab) - Regional morphology, phenology, habitat, and distribution.
Trees and Shrubs Online - genus context (opens in a new tab) - Current genus treatment noting the genomic transfer of C. parviflora into Yinquania.

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)

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

Trees and Shrubs Online (2026) Cornus. 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)