Description: Large, Deciduous Shrub or small, low-branching tree with mid-green, ovate to oval foliage. Large, showy, rose-pink Bracts, often paler towards the base, surround clusters of small, inconspicuous, green flowers. The flowerheads are produced in late spring before the leaves emerge and persist into summer, and are followed by domed, red fruit in the autumn. The foliage of Cornus florida f. rubra turns attractive shades of orange to deep red in the autumn.

It is believed that this species was first described by Marc Catesby, a naturalist and artist, in 1731. C.f. f. rubra was not introduced into cultivation until 1889. The name Cornus florida f. rubra is generally used to describe a pink flowered form of Cornus florida, and therefore is variable in cultivation.