Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Cornales
Family: Cornaceae
Genus: Cornus
Species: C. capitata
Binomial name: Cornus capitata
Synonyms: Dendrobenthamia capitata, Benthamia capitata, Benthamidia capitata, Benthamia fragifera
Common name: Himalayan Dogwood, Strawberry tree, Evergreen dogwood, Himalayan strawberry, Bentham's cornel
Cornus capitata is a species of dogwood native to the low-elevation woodlands of the Himalayas in China, India, and surrounding nations and it is naturalized in parts of Australia and New Zealand. It is an evergreen tree growing to 12 meters in height and width. The leaves are grey-green and pale and fuzzy underneath, and several centimetres long. It flowers during the summer in white blooms. The infructescence is a small aggregate of several individual fruits fused into a red body 2 or 3 centimetres across. It is edible but sometimes bitter.
Cornus capitata is now classed as an environmental weed because of its rapid growth and that it produces a large number of seeds that are widely dispersed by birds. It will form dense thickets by suckering from a system of underground stems.
A two-year-old self-seeded tree.
Flower with developing fruit
Young leaves
New leaves forming.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and informationhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
