Common Name: DOGWOOD FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb to tree; sometimes dioecious. Leaf: generally opposite, simple, generally entire, generally deciduous, veins often arched; stipules 0. Inflorescence: cyme or raceme, generally umbel- or head-like, subtended by showy or +- non-showy bracts or open, not subtended by bracts. Flower: generally small, generally bisexual; calyx generally 4-lobed; petals [0]4[(5)], free; stamens generally as many as, alternate petals; ovary inferior, chambers 1--4, 1-ovuled, style simple, stigma lobes 0[2--4]. Fruit: drupe [berry]. Seed: generally 1--2.
Genera In Family: +- 12 genera, +- 100 species: especially northern temperate (also southern tropics, subtrop); cultivated as ornamental (Cornus, Aucuba); some timber species.
eFlora Treatment Author: James R. Shevock
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.