Cornus ulotricha C.K.Schneid. & Wangerin — Curly dogwood

Introduction

Curly dogwood is a deciduous Chinese shrub or small tree recognized by its densely hairy foliage, with yellowish to brownish trichomes that give the species its characteristic textured appearance. Regional keys also note relatively few principal leaf veins and loose corymbose flower clusters (Xiang & Boufford 2005).

Molecular sampling places Cornus ulotricha within Subgenus Thelycrania and close to the broader Asian C. macrophylla radiation. The sampled phylogeny made C. macrophylla paraphyletic relative to C. ulotricha, a pattern that Tree TSAR treats as a signal for further population study rather than an automatic reason to merge the species (Lindelof et al. 2020; Du et al. 2023).

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

No substantial horticultural tradition specific to C. ulotricha is documented. Its value in collections is primarily botanical, especially where authenticated material can be compared with C. macrophylla and neighboring Chinese dogwoods.

Because current information is limited, cultivation recommendations should remain conservative: a cool, moisture-retentive woodland setting consistent with montane Chinese origins is a reasonable starting point, but it is not a substitute for direct cultivation trials.

Conservation Concerns

No formal global conservation assessment was located in the sources reviewed here. The species is accepted by Kew and recorded from Tibet to central China, but population abundance and trend are not well summarized. Verified field records and living collections would improve both conservation knowledge and the unresolved phylogenetic boundary with C. macrophylla.

Additional Information

Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab) - Accepted backbone, distribution, and synonymy.
Flora of China (opens in a new tab) - Regional description and identification characters.
International Plant Names Index (opens in a new tab) - Nomenclatural record search.
2020 phylogenomic study (opens in a new tab) - Molecular context for the C. macrophylla-C. ulotricha relationship.

References and Further Reading

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026) Cornus ulotricha C.K.Schneid. & Wangerin. Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org/results?q=Cornus%20ulotricha%20C.K.Schneid.%20%26%20Wangerin (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)

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. https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.12676 (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)