Beautiful Fall Berries – Kansas Natives

Dogwood Tree - Cornus florida by Fuzzy Gerdes

Fall is the perfect time for mother nature to show her beauty in our gardens, fields, and woods. The dogwood trees in my neighborhood are sporting red leaves and beautiful, shiny, red berries. Flowering dogwood Cornus florida is an attractive small tree with white spring flowers often used for foundation plantings in the garden (I see it planted about every 3rd house in my area). It is a native tree which benefits nature with berries eaten by 36 species of birds, including the northern flicker, pileated woodpecker and evening grosbeak (1). In spring one of the earliest butterflies, the diminutive spring azure Celastrina ladon, enjoys Cornus florida, as does the spectacular cecropia moth Hyalophora cecropia(2). As one of nature’s understory trees it can be planted in partial shade, grown on the east or west side of a home, or used in conjunction with taller trees. I’ve even seen it growing on the north side of homes, though it does look rather spindly and isn’t such a great garden addition there.

Gray Dogwood - Cornus racemosa by Benimoto

Gray dogwood Cornus racemosa is a thicket forming shrub with red new-growth twigs and distinctive white berries. The leaves turn an attractive maroon color in fall. This dogwood is proably best reserved for mass plantings for hedgerows or bank stabilization as it tends to spread. According to Critsite it is resilient, grows in sun, shade, or part-shade and gives good nesting and cover for birds as well as food. Its berries attracts at least 17 species of birds including the downy woodpecker, cardinal and eastern bluebird(1). The insect in the photo resting happily on the dogwood berries is, according to the photographer, a fragile forktail Ischnura posita.

Dogwood Transition by jkirkhart35

Stiff dogwood Cornus foemina has berries which are at first white and then turn blue. It is similar to gray dogwood except that it enjoys moist or boggy ground. According to Critsite few shrubs tolerate wet sites, which makes stiff dogwood useful, but in limited situations.

Dogwoods are Native, but not all of them are

Dogwoods are native to much of the continent of North America, not just to Kansas. The above dogwoods are native to many of the eastern and southern states. You can take a look at the full list of dogwoods at the USDA Plant Database by searching on common name dogwood to find dogwoods native to your own area. Planting native dogwoods and avoiding introduced dogwoods such as Cornus kousa (kousa dogwood or Japanese dogwood) and Cornus officinalis (Asiatic dogwood) supports both insects and birds in your garden.

Have you seen dogwoods in your area? Which trees and bushes are you enjoying seeing berries on this fall?

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(1) The Bird Garden, National Audubon Society, Dorling Kindersley, 1995
(2) Bringing Nature Home, Douglas Tallamy, Timber Press, 2007

Related posts:

1. Kansas Fall
2. Red Berries You Don’t Want!
3. Kansas Mammals – Canidae