Rutgers Dogwood History

During the 1970s, the native American dogwood, Cornus florida, came under severe threat from dogwood anthracnose, caused by the introduced fungus Discula destructiva. The disease cast doubt on the future of this iconic landscape tree and key component of eastern forests, as it caused extensive damage in both natural woodlands and ornamental plantings. Compounding the problem, dogwood borer infestations were contributing to further decline—especially in trees already weakened by disease.

In response to these escalating concerns, Dr. Elwin Orton developed a visionary plan to cross the native Cornus florida with the hardier and disease resistant Asian species Cornus kousa, commonly known as Kousa dogwood, to create a new hybrid with improved resilience. Through years of patient breeding and careful selection, Dr. Orton succeeded in producing a significantly improved hybrid dogwood that captured the best traits of both parent species. This novel hybrid combination originally unique only to Dr. Orton’s efforts was later formally named Cornus rutgersensis in recognition of his pioneering work.

After extensive evaluation and experimentation, the Stellar Series® of hybrid dogwoods was released from Rutgers in the early 1990s, including Stellar Pink®, Aurora®, Constellation®, Celestial®, and Ruth Ellen® dogwoods. These award‑winning hybrid cultivars proved to be a major success, offering strong resistance to anthracnose along with exceptional vigor, stress tolerance, and abundant, brilliant floral displays. They soon found a beloved place in landscapes across the United States, contributing vivid spring color and blooming between the flowering periods of their parent species, Cornus florida and Cornus kousa. The Stellar Series® continues to be widely planted today, with Stellar Pink® dogwood remaining especially popular for its beautiful light‑pink bracts and outstanding plant health.

Dr. Orton continued his research and hybridization work with the goal of further improving dogwood trees, with a focus on increasing floral bract size as well as enhancing leaf quality and overall tree form. By cross‑breeding Cornus kousa with Cornus nuttallii, a species native to the Pacific Northwestern United States, he produced the Jersey Star® series of hybrid cultivars. Released beginning in 2004, this series included the breakthrough and award‑winning Starlight® and Venus® dogwoods—remarkably robust trees distinguished by their brilliant white floral bracts and lustrous, dark green, disease‑free foliage. Venus® dogwood is credited as having the largest floral bracts of any dogwood in history. A more recent introduction, Rosy Teacups® dogwood, features medium‑pink bracts that develop in an upright, cup‑like form along the branches, reminiscent of little teacups. The hybrid species combination of Cornus kousa × Cornus nuttallii was later formally named Cornus elwinortonii in honor of Dr. Orton’s pioneering work.

Dr. Thomas Molnar was hired to continue Dr. Orton’s pioneering work upon his retirement, with a primary goal of developing new cultivars that combined the coveted dark pink to red blooms of our native Cornus florida with the superior disease resistance and performance of C. kousa or hybrid dogwoods—trees that typically exhibit only white or very light pink bracts. Achieving this required nearly a decade of intensive effort, including the planting and evaluation of many thousands of seedling trees. To everyone’s excitement, the program succeeded: vivid, bright pink bloom coloration was captured within the large breeding populations, paving the way for the release of the breakthrough Cornus kousa Scarlet Fire® dogwood. Introduced in 2016, this first‑of‑its‑kind kousa cultivar quickly became popular in the ornamental nursery trade winning an award for its striking pink bracts that glow in the sun at a time when nearly all other flowering trees have already dropped their petals.

The breeding program continues to advance, and in 2025 Dr. Molnar built upon the success of Scarlet Fire® dogwood with two new releases: Eternal Scarlet™ dogwood, featuring long‑lasting, vibrant pinkish‑red blooms, and Stellar Nova® dogwood, celebrated for its brilliant white flowers and vigorous growth.

Selected from more than 10,000 seedlings, these cultivars were specifically developed to be color complements to Scarlet Fire® in the landscape. With their overlapping, fully synchronous bloom period, together they provide an exceptional display in late spring—typically peaking around Memorial Day weekend in New Jersey, a time when other ornamental trees have already finished flowering and color in the landscape noticeably declines.

These breakthrough new introductions expand the available late‑spring color palette and extend the beauty and resilience of spring‑flowering dogwoods much further into the season.

Dr. Molnar

Professor and Principal Investigator