Attractive white to gray bark is best appreciated against a dark background. Royal Star' blooms slightly later than the species and other cultivars. Dark green leaves turn yellow to bronze in autumn. Grows better in acidic soil. Very showy spring flowers are followed by colorful fall fruit.
Some cultivars have persistent fruit.
There are many cultivars and selection should be based on flower, foliage, fruit, habit, and disease-resistance characteristics. This is a foliage tree, with leaves unfolding as a reddish-purple, turning to a lustrous green and then finishing in fall as brilliant yellow to orange to scarlet. With age, the bark becomes exfoliating, revealing an array of gray, green, white, and brown. The petalless flowers appear before the foliage and the crimson stamens are curiously attractive. The white, bell-shaped flowers are beautiful and showy May to June.