State Tree Of Missouri
Flowering Dogwood Is The Official State Tree Of Missouri. Missouri Adopted the flowering dogwood (Cornus Florida L.) as the official Missouri State Tree in 1955. Flowering Dogwood is one of America’s most popular ornamental trees. The beauty of this tree is symbolic of the many attractive features of Missouri. National Tree Of Missouri Flowering dogwood is a small, deciduous tree rarely exceeding 30 feet in height. This tree is distinguished by its bark, which is rough with a square to hexagonal patterns like cracked mud. State Tree Of Missouri Flowering dogwood opposite leaves are oval-shaped with an extended point at the tip and impressed parallel veins.
Yellowish-green flowers grow in a cluster and are surrounded by four large, white leaves called bracts. This State Tree has a short lifespan and a moderate growth rate relative to most other tree species. Individual trees normally live for 20 to 80 years. Sometime it may live for up to 125 years. Flowering dogwood tree commonly grows as a scattered species in many eastern deciduous. Missouri State Tree grows in association with beech, hickory, maple, hemlock, and oak.
State Tree Of Missouri Flowering dogwood is a valuable species for wildlife. Many songbirds eat its fruit. The fruit is particularly important to the American robin, as flocks often move from the forest edge to the interior as berries are depleted. National Tree Of Missouri Flowering dogwood grows in many hardwood and conifer forests throughout eastern North America. Its range is from central Florida northward to southwestern Maine and extends westward through southern Ontario to central Michigan, central Illinois, Missouri, southeastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, and eastern Texas.
Botanical Information
- Growth habit: Trees typically grow 20 feet tall. Young trees tend to be upright to rounded and mature specimens growing up to 50 percent wider than tall.
- Flower and fruit: True flowers are greenish-yellow and insignificant; the four bracts are showy. The four together are 3 to 4 inches across. Blossoms are effective for 10 to 14 days in April or early May. The fruit is a glossy red drupe that ripens from September to October. It can persist until mid-December. Birds love it.
- Leaf: The opposite leaves are simple, oval to ovate, 3 to 6 inches long and half as wide with smooth edges. Summer leaves are bright green above and lighter on the underside. Fall color can be a spectacular scarlet to purplish.
