Cornus X 'Rutban' Aurora has a ascending growth habit which develops into a wider shape through the years. Its leaves are dark green and color deep red before they shed in autumn. Its flowers appear mid-May around the time the last Cornus florida has stopped flowering. The flowers are surrounded by 4 quite wide cream white bracts which overlap. The flowers are sterile, as all rutgerensis crossbreeds, and therefore have no fruits. It is winter proof and the rest of its chracteristics are equal to those of its parents.