Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry)
Cornelian cherry is, strictly speaking, a late-Winter flowering tree. I regard it as an uncommon sight in my neighborhood but it takes it’s place among those trees and shrubs that flower before they develop leaves (such as cherry trees, forsythias, magnolias etc.).
Plants that behave this way are called “hysteranthous” and there are a number of theories to explain it. One theory concentrates on it’s possible purpose: if a mass of flowers come out together with no leaves to hide them, then this is likely to attract more insects, and if there are no leaves, then this facilitates wind pollination. Others focus on the mechanism: flower buds warm up quicker than leaf buds in the cool, Spring sunshine and so they open first. Some even suggest that there may be an evolutionary angle: maybe plants that behave in this way are somehow more ‘primitive’.
Incidentally, Cornelian cherry has very dense wood and it actually sinks in water. In ancient Greece it was used exclusively for making spears, javelins and bows, so much so, that the name of this species became a synonym for ‘weapon’.
