Cornus capitata
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
Strawberry dogwood
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Yellow
Detailed description
Small evergeen tree to about 6 m high. Stems hairy when young, becoming glabrous. Leaves opposite, to about 10 cm long on short petiole. Numerous pale yellow flowers. Fruit almost round 2-4 cm diameter, ripening to red.
Similar taxa
Is often mistaken for Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) but is easily distinguished as C. capitata has opposite leaves lacking teeth, and the fruit is not spiky.
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Cornaceae
Synonyms
Dendrobenthamia capitata
Ecology
Flowering
December, January
Fruiting
March, April
Year naturalised
1922
Origin
Himalayas to W. China
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Other information
Etymology
capitata: From the Latin capitus ‘head’, with a knob-like head or tip
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
Referencing and citations
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ogle, C. (Year at time of access): Cornus capitata Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/cornus-capitata/ (Date website was queried)