Cornaceae Family | Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog

American Dogwood – Cornus Florida

by hankinslawrenceimages | Oct 3, 2014 | 2015 Wildflower Calendar, Cornaceae Family, Flowers, Wildflowers

One of my favorite scenes in the spring is seeing a beautiful white dogwood tree (cornus florida) in full bloom in the woods. There is just something incredible about seeing the crisp white blossoms against the greens and browns of the woods.

I spotted this dogwood tree along the side of the road one morning in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I was on my way up the mountain hoping to catch sunrise from Clingman’s Dome, so I didn’t stop on the way up. Sunrise was a bust that morning – totally overcast at the peak. The only way those of us waiting to photograph sunrise could be sure that the sun was up was by looking at our watches! There was a slight change in the sky color from dark gray to slightly less dark gray – and that was it.

So I headed back down the mountain feeling rather disappointed that I hadn’t managed to photograph sunrise. But then I remembered the dogwood tree I’d spotted on the way up. So I stopped, spent about half an hour photographing the dogwood tree against the woods in the distance. At one point, the sun barely broke through the clouds just brightening up the blossoms – which was when I captured this photo.

It was one of those mornings where I didn’t photograph what I hoped to – but still came away with wonderful memories of a beautiful scene in the Smoky Mountains and this photograph.

American Dogwood is one of the photographs featured in the my 2015 Wildflower Calendar. It is also available as a gallery wrapped canvas and as a matted photograph.

New Photo: Dogwood

by hankinslawrenceimages | Jun 1, 2013 | Cornaceae Family, New Photos

I’ve recently added a new photo – Dogwood – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

One of the classic springtime scenes in the Smoky Mountains is a branch of beautiful dogwood blossoms (Cornus Florida) against the greens of the forest. I’ve been looking to photograph a scene like this for a while – finally this spring I found it – along the side of the road as I was returning to Gatlinburg from an early morning trip to Clingman’s Dome. To me – this photo represents spring in the Smoky Mountains.

This photograph is available as an 12 X 18″ or 20 X 30″ gallery-wrapped canvas. You can order Dogwood from my website.

Kousa Dogwood – Cornus kousa

by hankinslawrenceimages | May 28, 2012 | Cornaceae Family, Flowers

One of the more unusual dogwoods that blooms in May in the DC area is the Kousa Dogwood. It took me a while to identify it as a dogwood the first few times I saw it – since it wasn’t blooming at the same time as the other dogwoods and the blossoms were so different.

With a little research, I realized that what I was seeing was the Kousa Dogwood. Native originally to China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, the Kousa Dogwood is related to Cornus Florida – the more common American Dogwood. One advantage to the Kousa Dogwood is that is resistant to dogwood anthracnose disease, which affects many of the native dogwoods. For this reason, the Kousa Dogwood is being planted more frequently as an ornamental plant these days.

The blossoms on the Kousa Dogwood bloom after the tree leafs out. They appear to sit above the leave in wonderful patterns that cover the tree.

Kousa Dogwoods are frequently used in the DC area. I literally photographed these along the side of the road – between the sidewalk and the street.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these bits of beauty from around my neighborhood.

A Few More Dogwoods

by hankinslawrenceimages | May 7, 2012 | Cornaceae Family, Flowers

In addition to the wonderful Mexican Flowering Dogwoods, I photographed several other varieties of dogwoods when I visited the U.S. National Arboretum. Their dogwood collection is amazing.

The Cherokee Brave Dogwoods have beautiful soft pink flowers.

Wouldn’t this bench under the dogwoods be a wonderful place to enjoy the beauty of spring?

The Barton Dogwoods are a traditional white dogwood.

The Cherokee Sunset Dogwoods have deep pink blossoms.

And the Hess Select Red Dogwoods are another tree with soft pink blossoms.

Mexican Flowering Dogwoods

by hankinslawrenceimages | Apr 18, 2012 | Cornaceae Family, Flowers

On a recent visit to the National Arboretum in Washington DC, I saw and photographed a dogwood that was very different from all the others dogwoods in the Dogwood Garden. The petals on the flowers curved upward to form what looked like little loops! It was clearly a dogwood tree – just not one I’d seen before.

With a little research, I was able to identify it as a Mexican Flowering Dogwood – cornus florida urbiniana. Native to Eastern Mexico, these fascinating dogwoods are hardy to Zone 6-7. They are not commonly found in the United States, although they are becoming more common.

More information about this unusual dogwood, including information about the ones in the National Arboretum, can be found on the U.S. National Arboretum’s website.