Cornus hongkongensis

The Hong Kong dogwood is a member of the dogwood or Cornaceae family and is a species of evergreen dogwood native to China, Laos and Vietnam. It grows to 20 meters in height and blooms in late spring to early summer, exhibiting an abundance of fragrant flowers. It has been divided into a number of subspecies.

• Bark is smooth, grey or blackish brown, branchlets green or purplish green with white or brown trichomes.
• Leaves are evergreen, 6.2–16 cm long and 2.5–7.5 cm broad, leathery, shape from oblong to elliptic, upper surface green, lower surface pale green and/or powdery, glabrous or with white or brown trichomes when young, sometimes tufts of trichomes in vein axils, three to four (to five) secondary veins on each side of the midvein, margins entire and slightly revolute, apex acuminate to caudate; petiole is 0.8–1.2 cm long, covered in brown trichomes or glabrous.
• Flower is a terminal cyme, 0.7–2 cm diameter, composed of 40–70 flowers; floral bracts are yellowish or white, elliptic, ovate or orbicular, 1.6–4 long and 1.3–2 across; flowers are hermaphrodite, rather inconspicuous, with petals to 0.4 cm long. Flowering is in April and June.
• Fruit is a globose berry 1.5–2.5 cm across, red or yellowish red at maturity, sparsely covered in white trichomes and with multiple stones; fruiting is from October to December (China).