I recently moved to a wooded (oak/hickory) property and found several small dogwoods growing around the perimeter of a small lawn. When they leafed out I noticed that they look much more like cornus kousa than c. florida. There is at least one mature kousa on the property - it flowered (albeit very lightly) this year. None of the others did. Is kousa a heavy self-sower? Can the offspring be expected to bloom? Thanks for your help.

-G

I've noticed variation among Kousa's (from different sources, not seed from a single source) in terms of flowering period and density. SOme hold on to flowers (bracts) much longer and the bracyts even get some green chlorphyl. Some fruit quite heavily but I've not niticed much seedling growth. For that matter I don't se lots of seedling growth from heavily fruited Cornus florida either. I do not know if that is becasue the critters eat the seeds or the typical landscape environment is not conducive to seeding or a lack of "seedability" (I'm sure there's a real term for that).

My reading and experience with Pacific Dogwood (N. California) indicates that fruit don't last long on the tree due to bird predation, mostly. I assume the flesh is the food, while the seed passes through to be deposited below wherever the birds perch. This process probably aids germination as well as dispersion.
Flowering and fruiting are effected probably by tree position (microclimate & light) & insect pollinators, as well as by genetic variation, I suppose. See below regarding Japanese Dogwood seeding.
cornus kousa seeding info
"Cornus kousa - Kousa dogwood or Japanese dogwood
Blooms later than native dogwoods. The large white bracts of the Kousa have 4 points unlike the 5 bracts of the native dogwood which are rounded and notched. This tree does not suffer the insect and disease problems that plague the native dogwood. The fruit of the Japanese dogwood looks like large red raspberries in the fall."
(Quote Source)

I have several Kousa dogwoods in my yard, and they do produce numerous seedlings each year. The seedlings you see this year are the result of last years flowers and fruit. I find that few birds actually eat the Kousa fruits, most mummify on the twig after shedding seed.

Don’t count on the seedlings having the same characteristics as the parents, since this is not an asexual reproduction. Flower timing, size, color, leaf size and shape, etc., may be different for the progeny.

--
Russ Carlson, RCA

Thanks very much. I think I'll try moving a couple of the small guys (about 2') to places where they can grow on and see what happens. Any transplanting advice would be welcome.

Later, G