kousa dogwood; Japanese flowering dogwood
A deciduous tree native to East Asia, known for its showy white bracts in early summer and edible red fruit in autumn. Often planted as an ornamental.
I planted a kousa dogwood in the garden.
The white flowers of the kousa dogwood are beautiful.
ハナミズキ (flowering dogwood, Cornus florida) is a related North American species with pink or white bracts, while ヤマボウシ is the East Asian species with pointed bract tips.
flowering dogwood
Hiragana spelling, also used.
Kanji spelling; rarely used. The name is said to come from the resemblance of the flower's central part to a mountain ascetic's (山法師) head.
Alternate kanji spelling; rarely used.
The name ヤマボウシ is said to derive from the resemblance of the central flower cluster to the head of a 山法師 (yamabushi, mountain ascetic). The kanji 山法師 and 山帽子 are ateji based on this association.