Technical Abstract: The genus Cornus consists of many species, of which C. florida, C. kousa, C. mas and C. stolonifera are four main ornamental species in North America, Asia and Europe. For example, over 200 cultivars of flowering dogwood (C. florida) have been developed for the nursery industry. Flowering dogwood has become one of the most popular ornamental trees in the United States. Many of the flowering dogwood cultivars have similar phenotypes and identification of these cultivars is difficult for breeders and nurserymen. Although some specific phenotypes may be provided to identify some of these cultivars, molecular markers have been widely applied in identification among different cultivars . Microsatellite loci or SSRs are useful markers for studying genetic diversity between various species because of their abundance, high polymorphism (variability) and simple application.