I love encountering unusual happenings in the garden. Today I noticed this late occuring bloom on Cornus kousa 'National'. I've heard of double forms of kousa - 'Doubloon' comes to mind - but on this normally 4 bracted variety I see 12 bracts at least partially formed. Triple? Weird!
Have tried several of the so called double forms over the years with no luck, have never seen National do what you are showing. Would be interested in talking with you futher about trialing the plant along with some of our other new Cornus kousa selections. Please respond by E mail. Treeguru@verizon.net.
The bract pictured was a single bloom which appeared after all the other normally formed bracts were finished. Perhaps a freak single occurrence. Time will tell.
It looks to me like a rare occurrence of fasciation. Could be caused by hormonal imbalances, random genetic mutation or other factors Fasciation - Wikipedia
