I've been over from the UK working in Vancouver for the last week and noticed a flowering tree which I wasn't familiar with. Unfortunately I can't take a photograph of it but I'll describe it as best I can. From a distance the tree looks similar to a Silver Birch, 30ft or so tall with a main trunk and lightweight branches. It was obviously deciduous and the new leaves were 4-5cm simple roundish light green in clusters of 3 or 4. The bark seemed generally smooth from what I can remember. What I really noticed was the flowers which were very pale green, 6-8cm diameter, flatish with 6 petals and predominantly facing skyward. In the centre of the flower was a green 1cm hemispherical seed head although I'm guessing this is still very immature at this time of year. I'm not sure if this is a native tree to this part of the world but I'm interested to know what it is. I've tried a few common tree identification webpages with no luck so far. Any suggestions you might have would be useful to narrow the search. Thanks, J.
Good memory. Cornus nuttalli - native dogwood, Pacific dogwood. Some rebloom late summer. Not sure if it is still protected by law. Opposite leaves, 4-6 white showy bracts. Very beautiful in bloom, floral emblem of B.C. Generally wild at edge of woodland here, roots shaded with tops in sun. Some cultivars.
