Cornaceae (the dogwood family) is a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants in the order Cornales. It contains approximately 110 species, mostly trees and shrubs, which may be deciduous or evergreen. Members of this family usually have opposite or alternate simple leaves, four- or five-parted flowers clustered in inflorescences or pseudanthia, and drupaceous fruits.^[1] In northern temperate areas, Cornaceae is well known from two genera: Cornus, the dogwoods, and Nyssa, the tupelos.

The systematics of Cornaceae have been remarkably unsettled and controversial, and many genera have been added to it and removed from it over time. (One researcher called it a "dustbin."^[2]) Molecular phylogenetics have clarified the relatedness of some associated genera, and at least nine genera that were previously included in Cornaceae have been eliminated from the order Cornales entirely,^[3] but the circumscription of Cornaceae is still unclear. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group usually defines Cornaceae as comprising the genera Cornus and Alangium as well as the five genera often separated into the family Nyssaceae. However, many of these genera are sometimes split off into their own families (e.g. Alangiaceae), and the usage remains inconsistent.^[3][4]

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