Pacific dogwood
Cornus nuttallii
The western counterpart of eastern flowering dogwood — a small deciduous tree of the Pacific coast with horizontal, tiered branching and a rounded-to-conical crown. Its showy spring "flowers" are actually a tight central cluster of tiny purple-green true flowers ringed by six large white petal-like bracts (eastern flowering dogwood has four). Elliptic dark green leaves color yellow to orange to red in fall, and the 1/3-inch fruits ripen to showy bright red or orange that feed songbirds, squirrels, and deer.
Native: 4 US states + 1 CA province
Climate fit: narrow (34/100)
Focal point
Structure
Light
Full sun / Part sun / Part shade
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
180-480" tall · 120" apart
Hardy in zones
7a-9b
cold to frosty winters
AHS heat range
6-11
Plant range authored in AHS heat-zone terms.
Native in Illinois
No
A documented larval host for the Spring azure — caterpillars feed on its foliage before becoming the next generation.
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Won't grow here
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Marginal
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✕→⚠
Out of range today, but marginally possible by 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 39 ecoregions — 35 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today · 3 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.
Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
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Arizona Mountains forests
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Atlantic coastal pine barrens
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Blue Mountains forests
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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
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Central Tallgrass prairie
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Chilean Matorral
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Plant this, not that
Better fit for this place
For Chicago, IL, these are replacement suggestions: similar plants with a stronger hardiness fit now and/or in 2050.
Quercus garryana
Oregon white oak
The only native oak of British Columbia and Washington and the principal oak of Oregon — a slow-growing, deeply tap-rooted deciduous tree with deeply lobed, rounded-lobe glossy leaves and a broad, rugged, rounded crown. It is the keystone of the Pacific Northwest oak savanna, providing acorns and cover for deer, small mammals, and birds. Notably drought-adapted: it wants dry summer soil and resents irrigation.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Acer circinatum
Vine maple
A Pacific Northwest native small maple of understory + woodland-edge habitats producing rounded palmate leaves with brilliant red-orange fall color + a delicate multi-stemmed shrubby-to-small-tree habit. Native to the Cascade + Coast Range forests; thrives in cool moist Pacific Northwest conditions where eastern maples struggle. Among the most graceful native ornamental small trees for shaded gardens.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Humulus lupulus
Common hops
A vigorous, twining perennial vine grown for the papery green female cones (strobiles) that flavor and preserve beer. It dies to the ground each winter and races 15-20 feet up a trellis, arbor, or porch each season on rough, clinging stems with coarse, lobed leaves. Dioecious — only female plants bear the aromatic cones — and the North American native variety (var. lupuloides) is a larval host for Question Mark and Red Admiral butterflies.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Prunus serotina
Black cherry
The largest native cherry of eastern North America — a medium-to-large deciduous shade tree that hangs elongated racemes of small white flowers in spring, then ripens drooping strings of pea-sized fruit from red to near-black in late summer. The fragrant white bloom feeds bees while the fruit is eaten by 33 species of birds and many mammals; it is also a workhorse larval host, supporting the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and a string of giant silk and sphinx moths. Every part except the ripe fruit is cyanide-bearing and toxic.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Similar plants
Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.
Quercus garryana
Oregon white oak
The only native oak of British Columbia and Washington and the principal oak of Oregon — a slow-growing, deeply tap-rooted deciduous tree with deeply lobed, rounded-lobe glossy leaves and a broad, rugged, rounded crown. It is the keystone of the Pacific Northwest oak savanna, providing acorns and cover for deer, small mammals, and birds. Notably drought-adapted: it wants dry summer soil and resents irrigation.
Acer circinatum
Vine maple
A Pacific Northwest native small maple of understory + woodland-edge habitats producing rounded palmate leaves with brilliant red-orange fall color + a delicate multi-stemmed shrubby-to-small-tree habit. Native to the Cascade + Coast Range forests; thrives in cool moist Pacific Northwest conditions where eastern maples struggle. Among the most graceful native ornamental small trees for shaded gardens.
Humulus lupulus
Common hops
A vigorous, twining perennial vine grown for the papery green female cones (strobiles) that flavor and preserve beer. It dies to the ground each winter and races 15-20 feet up a trellis, arbor, or porch each season on rough, clinging stems with coarse, lobed leaves. Dioecious — only female plants bear the aromatic cones — and the North American native variety (var. lupuloides) is a larval host for Question Mark and Red Admiral butterflies.
Heteromeles arbutifolia
Toyon
The signature evergreen shrub of the California chaparral and coastal foothills — leathery, sharply toothed dark-green leaves, flat-topped clusters of small white summer flowers, and the brilliant red pomes that earned it the names Christmasberry and California holly (and, by way of the Hollywood hills, supposedly the name "Hollywood"). Long-lived and deeply drought-tolerant; the winter berries feed more than twenty bird species when little else is fruiting.
Quercus agrifolia
Coast live oak
The signature evergreen oak of the California coast and foothills — a broad-canopied tree with dense, dark, holly-like leaves whose spiny-toothed margins curl under, and a short, often massive trunk. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center documents it growing 20-50 feet high and wide, with old specimens reaching 100 feet and living for centuries. A keystone wildlife tree: its acorns and dense canopy feed and shelter Oak Titmouse, scrub and Steller's jays, chestnut-backed chickadee, and roughly 30 other bird species, and it is a larval host for three duskywing and sister butterflies.
Thuja occidentalis
American arborvitae
A dense, conical-to-narrow-pyramidal evergreen tree native to eastern and central North America, prized as a screening and foundation conifer. Flat, fan-like sprays of scale-like, aromatic yellow-green foliage clothe the tree from the ground up, and red-brown bark exfoliates on mature trunks. Wild trees can reach 40-60 feet but cultivated plants typically stay near 20-30 feet; small urn-shaped cones and dense evergreen cover make it valuable food and shelter for birds.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii). Retrieved 2026, June 24, from https://plotwright.com/plants/cornus-nuttallii
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
Success tips
Designer notes
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database
Botanical research database