Roughleaf Dogwood, leaves unfolding . . . (Cornus asperifolia)) A beautiful small tree, native to Northeast America, found
along the complex edges where the forest shades into open prairie. (See the same tree in its November aspect at another Photoweek feature,
Roughleaf Dogwood Fall) Notice that with this species, in contrast to the much more widely known and popular flowering
dogwoods, the leaves appear before the white flower clusters. The rhythms and seasonal changes of the Roughleaf Dogwood
might make an excellent signature species of the area in which it currently grows, as we carefully watch and take note
of all its varies seasonal changes and modulations, even when the habitat of which it was formerly part largely
no longer exists.
