Editing Cornus kousa (section)

== Fruit and uses ==
[[File:Boiling Cornus kousa fruit.jpg|300px|right|Kousa dogwood fruit boiled to make jelly]]
The fruit is edible raw or cooked.<sup>[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup> In Korea and China it has traditional therapeutic use, and among ''Cornus'' species kousa carries some of the largest fruits, with a sweet flavor and occasional use in wine production.<sup id="cite_ref-9">[[#cite_note-9|[9]]]</sup>

First-hand taste reports range widely from tree to tree. Growers describe good ripe fruit as buttered-peach, peachy, persimmon-like, tropical, or custardy, and poor or unripe fruit as gritty, sandy, seedy, or mild; sweetness, texture, pulp color, and seediness all vary between individuals.<sup>[[#cite_note-8|[8]]]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-10">[[#cite_note-10|[10]]]</sup> Growers note that birds often take the best-tasting fruit first, so daily checks and harvest at full ripeness protect the crop.<sup>[[#cite_note-10|[10]]]</sup> Reddit reports describe the pulp as like a sandy peach or custardy and closer to pawpaw, usually with two or more pits, with the peel texture avoided by squeezing out the pulp.<sup id="cite_ref-11">[[#cite_note-11|[11]]]</sup> The fruit can also be boiled to make jelly<sup>[[#cite_note-11|[11]]]</sup>, and dropped fruit left on the ground ferments and can attract wasps, so keep the drop area picked up.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>