Yard work: the discovered dogwood tree

Self-tutoring about yard work: the tutor mentions a discovery.

The following is according to my understanding.

There’s a small tree at the edge of the yard that’s easy to overlook. It flowers brightly every year, but when a lot of other blooms are out. I’ve pruned it a few times, but always when it wasn’t flowering, of course.

To be frank, I forget what the tree’s blooms look like. Some years I recall thinking they were cherry blooms.

Yet, I’ve come to realize it’s not a cherry tree. Rather, I think it’s a dogwood. Yet, not a Pacific dogwood, but a red-osier dogwood. Its leaves and branches are opposite, and its blooms are white and appear along the tops of the branches. Moreover, its twigs are red.

One additional idea that points me in the direction of the red-osier dogwood is that I found “flattened” stones where I leave prunings sometimes. The stones were clearly centres from fruit, but had “sides” rather than being round. Such is apparently another feature of the red-osier dogwood.

Source:

Pojar, J., MacKinnon, A. (editors), 1994. Plants of Coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon and Alaska. B.C. Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing.