How to differentiate between different Dogwood varieties
The most obvious difference is in the colour of the stems (most noticeable in winter) –Cornus sanguinea stems are orange red, Cornus alba stems are tomato red, and Cornus alba 'Sibirica' are dark red.
An important difference is that Cornus sanguinea is native and the other varieties of dogwood that we grow are non-native and it is for this reason that Cornus sanguinea tends to be used more than the other varieties in farm hedging, especially where grant funding is involved. Cornus sanguinea is also the fastest growing of these three varieties and can get a bit leggy which doesn’t matter at all in farm hedging but makes it less suitable for landscaping schemes where Cornus alba and Cornus alba “Sibirica” tend to win out.