Plant · P-396

Cornelian Cherry

Cornus mas

Cornelian Cherry blooms yellow on bare wood in late winter, well ahead of forsythia and almost everything else, making it a lifeline for bees when little else is flowering. Its ripe, dark red fruit has a clean, almost plum-like tartness and is eaten raw, dried, or cooked into jelly, syrup and liqueur, though seedling trees can take 20 years to bear, so grafted or cutting-grown stock is the only sensible route to a crop. The wood is exceptionally hard, traditionally used for turned work and tool handles, and the tree resists the pests and diseases that plague most other dogwoods. Left alone it suckers into a dense, wind-resistant hedge, though removing the suckers promptly keeps it a single trunk instead.