I’ve always loved Japanese Kousa dogwood trees (Cornus kousa), especially their white (and sometimes pinkish) flowers. Well, it turns out that their blooms are not really flowers after all!

The four showy dogwood flower petals aren’t actually “petals” as botanists define them. The spectacular white pointed beauties are “bracts,” which are modified leaves that look like flowers. They will delight lucky viewers through early July.

True Kousa dogwood flowers are small and inconspicuous, forming round central “clusters” of about 20 tiny flowers that attract pollinating insects to the center of the four bracts. By late summer the clusters have become red berries about the size of a round strawberry.

We are told that the common name dogwood comes from one colonial description of the fruit as being edible but not fit for a dog. However, many humans find the taste of the berries to their liking, and some use them to make jams and other interesting and yummy goodies.

Kousa dogwood tree leaves are dark green and egg-shaped, with pointed leaf tips that will turn into shades of maroon or scarlet in the fall. Incidentally, the tree’s colorful bark, with its patterns of gray, tan and brown, is also very interesting throughout the winter months.

So, even though our Kousa dogwood “petals” are presently beginning to float down over our gardens, we look forward to a bright and colorful future of abundant berries and leaves from our stunning four-season tree.

That is if the squirrels, chipmunks and birdies leave us any!