Look what I found: cornus florida 'White'

cornus florida 'White' - Flowering Dogwood

A lot of the plants I've found in the garden are pretty easy to identify.  Either there are only a few species of the plant or they have some sort of distinctive feature that sets them apart.  Others are not so easy.

There are between 30 and 50 species of dogwood.  Some are trees, some are shrubs, some are even groundcover.  There are native* dogwoods, European dogwoods, and Asian dogwoods.  To make matters worse, dogwood trees grown in the shade look quite different than trees grown in full sun.


My three are quite leggy and sparse in the shade

For the dogwoods, and for a few other trees I'm trying to identify, I haven't found a good way to definitively say, "It is this exact species".  I was hoping for a website that might walk through each feature of the tree: the bark, the flower, the habit, etc. and then spit out an answer.  I've settled for browsing through dozens and dozens of images and then making a best guess.

These three dogwoods are situated along the edge of the woods.  It is really the perfect spot for them and seems very natural, as if they sprung up there on their own.  They add a nice bit of spring interest and let enough light through to the mixed flowering shrubs below.  I don't remember whether their leaves were particularly interesting in the fall, but I'll be sure to take note this year.

* Yet another native plant sale this weekend: Historic London Town and Gardens (Edgewater, MD)