Early pink dogwood flower heads

Flowering heads of pink dogwood tree. The pink and white objects are not petals, but bracts -- modified leaves. The actual flowers are found in groups at the intersection of four bracts. In this photo, they haven't opened yet. To see some dogwood flowers that have opened, check our "Dogwoods" set. This species of dogwood grows slowly into a small tree, no more than a few meters/yards tall. The groups of small flowers are about an inch/3 cm across.

copyright Martin LaBar