On my recent walk I came across the white dogwood plant for the first time, due to the showy nature of the flowers. The shrub can is usually around two metres in height, but can reach five metres. It’s a member of the Asteraceae family which is the daisy family. The binomial name, Ozothamnus diosmifolius, has the following meaning:

• Ozothamnus-comes from the Greek words ‘ozo’ which means too small and ‘thamnus’ meaning shrub
• Diosmifolius-this name has been given because the leaves look like those of the plant diosma, the ‘folius’ part is Latin for leaf.

The leaves are linear in shape, to 20mm long by 2mm wide. The margins (outside edges) of the leaves are curved, so you can’t always see the white underside easily. The upper leaf surface is dark green.

The flowers appear in an inflorescence (in this instance a corymb) that can reach 7cm across. Within the inflorescence there are at least twenty florets with broad bracts that are white or pale pink. The flowering period varies by what you read-some say that white dogwood flowers from winter to spring, while others say spring and summer.

White dogwood can be found on a range of soils in forest and heath where it is widespread from Eden in southern New South Wales northwards.