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Pacific dogwood
Habit (mature) · John Rusk / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Limited coverage
Pacific dogwood
Cornus nuttallii
The western counterpart of eastern flowering dogwood — a small deciduous tree of the Pacific coast with horizontal, tiered branching and a rounded-to-conical crown. Its showy spring "flowers" are actually a tight central cluster of tiny purple-green true flowers ringed by six large white petal-like bracts (eastern flowering dogwood has four). Elliptic dark green leaves color yellow to orange to red in fall, and the 1/3-inch fruits ripen to showy bright red or orange that feed songbirds, squirrels, and deer.
Native: 4 US states + 1 CA province
Review: Source-backed
Climate fit: narrow (29/100)
Focal point
Structure
Light
Full sun / Part sun / Part shade
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
180-480" tall · 120" apart
Hardy in zones
7a-9b
cold to frosty winters
Summer heat range
Warm-Hot
warm to hot summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.
Native in Illinois
No
A documented larval host for the Spring azure — caterpillars feed on its foliage before becoming the next generation.
Wildlife relationships
Cold hardiness
Now
Zone 6b
USDA
Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer
Won't grow here
2050
Zone 7b
Plotwright
Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)
Well-suited
In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.
✕→✓
Out of range today, but newly possible by 2050.
Heat tolerance
Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/pacific-dogwood
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
Success tips
Designer notes
Wikimedia Commons
Photo · CC BY 2.0
Backs 1 field
Image
Community photos
The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.
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