Cornus quinquenervis Franch. — Cinnamonleaf dogwood

Introduction

Cinnamonleaf dogwood is a deciduous shrub of Chinese forests, streamside thickets, scrub, and hillsides. Its relatively few prominent leaf veins and late summer flowering help distinguish it from many members of Subgenus Thelycrania; black fruits follow the white flower clusters (Xiang & Boufford 2005; Deasy et al. 2026).

The accepted name requires nomenclatural context. The species was long known as Cornus paucinervis, but that name is unavailable because it is preoccupied by an earlier fossil name. C. quinquenervis is therefore the usable species name. The plant is also one parent of the cultivated hybrid C. × dubia with North American C. amomum.

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

Cinnamonleaf dogwood is still uncommon in western horticulture, but it has attractive late flowers, dark fruit, and a refined shrubby habit. Trees and Shrubs Online places it broadly in USDA Zones 7-8 and notes that its ecology ranges from flood-prone stream margins to comparatively dry slopes, suggesting useful site flexibility once established (Deasy et al. 2026).

Seed can be sown promptly and allowed to experience natural winter chilling; vegetative propagation is useful when preserving a selected clone. The species’ history of mislabeling makes verified identity important in collections.

Conservation Concerns

No major global extinction concern is currently indicated in the sources reviewed here. The species is widely distributed in China across a broad elevational range. Local riparian alteration may affect some populations, but conservation attention is more likely to center on provenance and correct identification than on imminent range-wide loss.

Additional Information

Trees and Shrubs Online (opens in a new tab) - Morphology, cultivation, and nomenclatural explanation.
Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab) - Accepted backbone and synonymy.
Flora of China (opens in a new tab) - Regional morphology, habitat, and distribution.

References and Further Reading

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

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026) Cornus quinquenervis Franch.. Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org/results?q=Cornus%20quinquenervis%20Franch (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)

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)