How to identify a Cornus

If you have a deciduous shrub in your garden that you suspect is a Cornus but are not quite sure I have a great little trick to make your first bit of identification very easy.

First of all select a leaf of the shrub and grasp the leaf so that it is sandwiched between your thumb and index finger in both hands.

Tear the leaf with equal pressure but do not keep pulling after the two halves of the leaf separate. All Cornus have a silk like thread running from end to end.

hold the leaf up by the stalk and the second part should remain attached proving to you you have a Cornus - the next tricky bit is working out which one. For that you may need Complete Gardens software or something similar.