Species

• The Pagoda dogwood tree has a layered horizontal branching structure and features blackish-blue berries and small white flowers, according to BluegrassGardens.com. These trees can grow to about 25 feet high. Meanwhile, the flowering dogwood tree can reach up to 30 feet to 40 feet tall in wooded areas and features creamy-white flowers, a flat-topped crown, oval leaves and red berry-like fruits called drupes, reports the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
  
  

Flowers and Foliage

• A dogwood tree produces spring flowers featuring "petals" that are really bracts, or modified leaves. The bracts attract pollinating insects to the flowers sandwiched in between the bracts. In fact, as many as 20 flowers could be located tightly between the bracts, according to the United States National Arboretum. Following the floral display that starts in late March for flowering dogwood trees and lasts up to four weeks, deep green foliage appears and then turns scarlet to reddish purple in the fall.
  
  

Fruits

• Dogwood trees produce fruits of various sizes and shapes. Although the fruits of the flowering dogwood tree, in particular, are not poisonous, they do not have a very pleasing flavor. Meanwhile, the Chinese dogwood produces a quarter-sized circular red fruit that tastes like a melon, while the Cornelian cherry dogwood features an elongated, tart fruit used to make jellies and jams.
  
  

Care

• Dogwood trees must have nutrient-rich soil, with dogwoods preferring a slightly acidic loam soil. To improve your tree's soil, you can add beneficial mycorrhizal fungi. Spring is the best time to plant the dogwood tree. The planting hole ideally should be three times the diameter of the tree's root ball and deep enough for the root ball to rise slightly above the surface.
  
  Fertilizers and moist, shady conditions also help dogwood trees to flourish. You should water these trees weekly during dry periods and remove any injured or dead branches on the trees. Avoid using lawnmowers or other lawn devices too close to a dogwood tree because they can damage the tree's bark and leave wounds that attract insects.