Species
+

Cornus officinalis Siebold & Zucc.

Asiatic dogwood, Japanese cornel, Japanese cornel, Japanese cornelian-cherry

Climate known 26 photographs
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Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Cornus officinalis, the Japanese cornel or Japanese cornelian cherry, is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae. Despite its name, it is native to China and Korea as well as Japan. It is not to be confused with C. mas, which is also known as the Cornelian cherry. It is not closely related to the true cherries of the genus Prunus.

Text from Wikipedia, “Cornus officinalis”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Cornus

Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and some species are evergreen. Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by an involucre of large, typically white petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Cornus”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Cornaceae
Described by
Siebold & Zucc.
Native to
China North-Central, China Southeast
Wild records
128 in range· 44 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Jul, mean day; nights 22 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1051mm/yr
9 wet months · peak Jul 204 mm (CHELSA)
Light
16–33DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to September in the northern hemisphere (May to September at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1051 mm a year, wettest July at 204 mm, driest December at 17 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 33 mol/m²/day. Cold floor -5.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Cornus mascula var. japonica Siebold; Cornus mascula var. japonica Siebold ex Miq.; Cornus officinalis var. koreana Kitam.; Macrocarpium officinale (Siebold & Zucc.) Nakai.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to September in the northern hemisphere (May to September at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (753 mm of 1051 mm) falls in May to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 22.9 °C against a yearly mean of 14.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to March.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1051 mm a year, wettest July at 204 mm, driest December at 17 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1051 mm a year at the habitat, 753 mm of it May to September. Wettest month July at 204 mm, driest December at 17 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 610 mm to 1888 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 33 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 33 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 13, the highest 90th-percentile month 38).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor -5.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is -5.7 °C, the absolute minimum -17.4 °C, about 72 frost nights a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 39.5 °C. Monthly means: coldest night -3.0 °C in January (across the envelope cells -9.4 °C to 1.0 °C), warmest day 29.2 °C in July (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: -5.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 64% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 6 °C in Jan to 29 °C in Jul; mean night from -3 °C in Jan to 22 °C in Jul. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1051 mm of rain a year, most in Jul. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 106 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -17.4 °C and the 99th-percentile day 39.5 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-20°-10°10°20°30°40°50°frost39.5° 99th-percentile day (undated)-17.4° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 16–33RH 58–64 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 106 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C6 / 1–88 / 4–1013 / 9–1519 / 15–2224 / 19–2727 / 22–3029 / 24–3228 / 23–3224 / 19–2719 / 14–2213 / 8–178 / 3–11
Night °C-3 / -9–1-1 / -6–33 / -2–69 / 5–1214 / 10–1719 / 14–2122 / 16–2521 / 16–2516 / 12–2111 / 6–155 / -2–9-1 / -7–3
Rain mm19 / 6–8723 / 8–10448 / 21–17074 / 31–185113 / 57–221151 / 78–324204 / 140–285169 / 119–247116 / 71–16777 / 37–11140 / 12–8917 / 4–51
DLI17 / 14–2020 / 16–2324 / 19–3030 / 25–3633 / 28–3833 / 28–3832 / 30–3530 / 28–3325 / 22–2821 / 16–2318 / 14–1916 / 13–18
RH %59 / 52–6360 / 53–6459 / 53–6459 / 52–6359 / 53–6462 / 55–6663 / 60–6664 / 60–6662 / 59–6560 / 56–6459 / 54–6458 / 52–63

Each figure is the median across the 106 grid cells holding the 122 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1139:5836 (33.025, 111.825). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -17.4 °C, 1st-percentile night -5.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 39.5 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 106 distinct grid cells holding the 122 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1139:5836 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 33.00_111.875, lapse-corrected -7 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 196 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina North-Central, China Southeast· introduced: Japan, Korea
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “temperate”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker33.223, 107.546 · in the densest population, 78 records (61% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 128 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 44 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 142 km away. 605 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 6 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 128 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Cornus officinalisCornus officinalisCornus officinalisCornus officinalisCornus officinalisCornus officinalisCornus officinalisCornus officinalis

Photographs: (c) Jiao Sun (孙娇), some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) 林孫鋒(Lin Sun Fong), some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) IMORI MIHO, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Wang.QG, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) nayeonyooo, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Kim, Hyun-tae, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Cornus officinalis, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Fungal Planet description sheets: 400–468
P.W. Crous, M.J. Wingfield, David M. Richardson, J.J. Leroux (2016) · Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi
Characterization, Quantification, and Bioactivities of Anthocyanins in Cornus Species
Navindra P. Seeram, Robert E. Schutzki, Amitabh Chandra, Muraleedharan G. Nair (2002) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc
Jun Huang, Yiwei Zhang, Lin Dong, Qinghan Gao (2017) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Antimicrobial Effect of Extracts from Chinese Chive, Cinnamon, and Corni Fructus
Jeng‐Leun Mau, Chiu-Ping Chen, Pao‐Chuan Hsieh (2000) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Bioactive compounds from Cornus officinalis fruits and their effects on diabetic nephropathy
Wei Ma, Kai‐Jin Wang, Chen‐Shu Cheng, Guoqing Yan (2014) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Biological screening of 100 plant extracts for cosmetic use (II): anti‐oxidative activity and free radical scavenging activity
B.J. KIM, J.H. Kim, H.P. Kim, Moon Young Heo (1997) · International Journal of Cosmetic Science
Corni Fructus: a review of chemical constituents and pharmacological activities
Yu Dong, Zhe-Ling Feng, Hubiao Chen, Fu-Sheng Wang (2018) · Chinese Medicine
Active Components and Pharmacological Effects of Cornus officinalis: Literature Review
Xue Gao, Yi Liu, Zhichao An, Jian Ni (2021) · Frontiers in Pharmacology
Cornus mas and Cornus Officinalis—Analogies and Differences of Two Medicinal Plants Traditionally Used
Monika E. Czerwińska, Matthias F. Melzig (2018) · Frontiers in Pharmacology
Morroniside attenuates high glucose–induced BMSC dysfunction by regulating the Glo1/AGE/RAGE axis
Yi Sun, Yu Zhu, Xuanzhe Liu, Yimin Chai (2020) · Cell Proliferation

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Cornus 12 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 84 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.