Dogwood Flowers: The Truth About "Petals" and Sexuality

Do Male and Female Dogwoods Both Have White Flowers?

A common question: do male and female flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) both bloom white?

Each flower cluster contains both male and female parts (perfect flowers).
The showy white "petals" are actually bracts (modified leaves)—4 per cluster.
The true flowers are the tiny greenish-yellow structures in the center.
Each tiny flower has 4 petals, 2 stamens (male), and 1 pistil (female).

Spring "bloom" = bracts expanding before leaves.
After pollination, bracts and petals fall; fertilized ovaries become green then red berries.
All flowering dogwoods have the same floral structure—no separate sexes.

There are no "male" or "female" dogwood trees. Every tree produces both pollen and fruit (if pollinated). The white display is bracts, not petals.

Trees: Young Dogwood Decline: Borers, Transplant Shock, and Trimmer Damage; Growing Dogwood Trees from Seed: Chill Requirements; Retaining Wall Near a Mature Dogwood: Why 10 Inches of Fill Will Kill It; Phalaenopsis or Cymbidium? Identifying Your Orchid and Fixing Flower Drop; Pink Dogwood Not Blooming: Nitrogen vs. Phosphorus Balance; Saving Young Dogwoods from Borers; Why Young Dogwoods Won't Bloom: Patience and Proper Feeding; Spanish Moss on Dogwoods: Chemical and Cultural Control; Beetles on Dogwood and Maple: Likely Japanese Beetles—Foliar Spray or Systemic; Red Dogwood Leaf Browning in NE Alabama: Likely Anthracnose or Blight

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