Early spring was prime showtime for flowering dogwoods, when their gleaming white blooms cast a near-magical splendor in yards, neighborhoods and forests across Georgia.
Now, in mid-October, it’s time for dogwoods’ second spectacle of the year, fall leaf color. Dogwood leaves are showing their first blush of fall, a pinkish-red that soon will become a vivid scarlet to a deep-wine crimson hue — one of autumn’s earliest displays of dazzling leaf color. Few native Georgia trees, in fact, are as showy as dogwoods in autumn.
Beauty aside, Cornus florida (flowering dogwood’s botanical name) is a special tree for another big reason — its berries, which at this time of year are a bright red. Clusters of the shiny, half-inch berries (what botanists call drupes) hang from the ends of dogwood branches, poking out from between the leaves and adding more fall beauty.
Rich in fat and calcium, the energy-packed berries are valuable for wildlife — a major food source for an array of creatures. More than 30 of Georgia’s backyard bird species relish the berries — including Northern cardinals, brown thrashers, Eastern bluebirds, gray catbirds, cedar waxwings, several species of woodpeckers, yellow-rumped warblers and others. Already a Northern mockingbird is zealously trying to guard for himself a berry-laden dogwood in our Decatur yard.
Other birds — wood ducks, bobwhite quail, wild turkeys — also feast on dogwood berries. In addition, several mammal species find the berries delectable, including gray squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, deer, black bears and others.
The benefit to the tree for providing this buffet, of course, is that its seeds get scattered and planted far and wide.
Even so, the flowering dogwood faces a struggle for survival because of several threats. In particular, a disease called dogwood blight, caused by the exotic anthracnose fungus, has caused the deaths of countless dogwoods. Learn more at fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5447373.pdf.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The Orionid meteor shower, visible next week, reaches a maximum of 20 meteors per hour on Thursday night in the eastern sky. The moon will be full on Wednesday. Venus is high in the west around sunset. Jupiter and Saturn are in the southwest at dark.
Charles Seabrook can be reached at charles.seabrook@yahoo.com.
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