Cornus sanguinea var. koenigii [C.K.Schneid.] TSAR* — Georgian blood-twig dogwood

Introduction

Georgian blood-twig dogwood is Tree TSAR’s varietal treatment of the historically named Cornus koenigii complex from the eastern Black Sea and Caucasus region. The plants have been described as morphologically coherent, with comparatively large leaves and petioles, larger fruits, purple anthers, and leaf-hair characters that do not fit neatly within the ordinary concept of ssp. australis (Deasy et al. 2026).

Tree TSAR therefore recognizes C. sanguinea var. koenigii [C.K.Schneid.] TSAR*. Variety is preferred to subspecies because the morphological signal is useful but independent population-level genomic structure has not yet been demonstrated. The bracketed prior authorship plus TSAR* is editorially important: it records Tree TSAR’s provisional taxonomic conclusion and is not a nomenclatural act under the International Code of Nomenclature.

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

No established horticultural market exists specifically for var. koenigii. Material should not be identified merely by red stems or broad leaves; reliable determination requires the combination of morphology and Caucasian provenance.

Authenticated Georgian accessions would be valuable in research collections because they could test whether the variety represents a locally differentiated component of C. sanguinea or warrants a different rank after genomic sampling.

Conservation Concerns

No independent global conservation assessment is available for the variety. Its conservation significance lies in preserving the eastern Black Sea and Caucasian populations that express the koenigii character set. Until population structure is known, these populations should not be treated as interchangeable with generic European C. sanguinea material.

Additional Information

Trees and Shrubs Online - C. sanguinea (opens in a new tab) - Morphological and historical context for the koenigii concept.
Plants of the World Online - Cornus koenigii (opens in a new tab) - Backbone treatment of the published species name underlying the Tree TSAR variety.
International Plant Names Index (opens in a new tab) - Nomenclatural record for the published antecedent.

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 koenigii C.K.Schneid.. Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org/results?q=Cornus%20koenigii%20C.K.Schneid (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)