Cornus sanguinea ssp. cilicica
Turkish blood-twig dogwood
On this page
Introduction
Turkish blood-twig dogwood is a southern element of the Cornus sanguinea complex centered on Türkiye and extending toward the eastern Mediterranean. It has been distinguished by subtle floral and vegetative characters, including comparatively slender calyx teeth, but the evidence for a deeply independent lineage remains limited (Deasy et al. 2026; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2026).
Tree TSAR provisionally accepts ssp. cilicica because the name corresponds to a geographically coherent southern concept recognized in major backbones. The rank is deliberately marked low confidence pending denser population sampling across the transition from Anatolia into adjacent C. sanguinea populations.
Horticultural and Agricultural Uses
No horticultural practice specific to ssp. cilicica is established. Garden plants sold simply as C. sanguinea should not be assigned to this subspecies without provenance or reliable diagnostic material.
Botanical gardens can contribute directly to resolving the taxon by maintaining wild-source Anatolian accessions, retaining vouchers, and avoiding undocumented mixing with other blood-twig dogwoods.
Conservation Concerns
A separate global threat assessment is not available. Because the taxon’s geographic and genetic boundaries are incompletely tested, conservation should focus first on documenting natural populations and their habitat rather than assigning a threat category from broad species-level records.
Additional Information
-
Trees and Shrubs Online - C. sanguinea (opens in a new tab) - Infraspecific context and diagnostic discussion.
-
Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab) - Accepted Kew subspecies page and distribution.
-
International Plant Names Index (opens in a new tab) - Nomenclatural search.
References and Further Reading
Deasy M, Crowley D, Aldridge J, Chişu R (2026) Cornus sanguinea. Trees and Shrubs Online. https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-sanguinea/ (opens in a new tab)
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026) Cornus sanguinea ssp. cilicica (Wangerin) D.F.Chamb.. Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:878661-1 (opens in a new tab)