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The Dogwoods comprise a group of 30-50 species of mostly deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 woody plant
Woody plant

A woody plant is a Vascular tissue plant that has a Perennial plant Plant stem that is above ground and covered by a layer of thickened bark. Woody plants are adapted to survive from one year to the next; the stem supports continued vegetative growth above ground from one year to next....
s growing as shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s and tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s; some species are herbaceous perennial plants and a few of the woody species are evergreen.






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Cornus Drummondii1
Cornus Canadensis2
Img 1527dogwood
Dogwoodice9669
The Dogwoods comprise a group of 30-50 species of mostly deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
 woody plant
Woody plant

A woody plant is a Vascular tissue plant that has a Perennial plant Plant stem that is above ground and covered by a layer of thickened bark. Woody plants are adapted to survive from one year to the next; the stem supports continued vegetative growth above ground from one year to next....
s growing as shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s and tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s; some species are herbaceous perennial plants and a few of the woody species are evergreen. They are in the family Cornaceae
Cornaceae

The Dogwood family is a widespread family, mostly in the north temperate zone, in the order Cornales. The family mostly comprises woody shrubs and trees, in about fifteen genera, although which genera properly belong to this family is controversial....
, divided into one to nine genera or subgenera (depending on botanical interpretation). Four subgenera are enumerated here.

Taxonomy

  • Flower clusters semi-showy, usually white or yellow, in cymes with large showy bracts, fruit red, blue or white:
    • (Sub)genus Cornus. Cornels; four species of shrubs or small trees; flower clusters with a deciduous involucre.
      • Cornus chinensis (Chinese Cornel). China.
      • Cornus mas (European Cornel
        European Cornel

        The European Cornel is a species of dogwood native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. In North America, the plant is known by the common name of "Cornelian Cherry."...
         or Cornelian-cherry). Mediterranean.
      • Cornus officinalis
        Cornus officinalis

        Cornus officinalis is a species of dogwood known also as Japanese cornel or Japanese cornelian cherry....
         (Japanese Cornel
        Cornus officinalis

        Cornus officinalis is a species of dogwood known also as Japanese cornel or Japanese cornelian cherry....
        ). China, Korea, Japan.
      • Cornus sessilis
        Cornus sessilis

        Cornus sessilis is a species of dogwood known by the common names blackfruit cornel or blackfruit dogwood and miner's dogwood....
         (Blackfruit Cornel
        Cornus sessilis

        Cornus sessilis is a species of dogwood known by the common names blackfruit cornel or blackfruit dogwood and miner's dogwood....
        ). California.


    • (Sub)genus Swida. Dogwoods; about 20-30 species of shrubs; flower clusters without an involucre.
      • Cornus alba
        Cornus alba

        Cornus alba, the Siberian or Red-Barked Dogwood is a large shrub or small tree. It is from the family, Cornaceae. It is a popular ornamental used in landscaping....
         (Swida alba; Siberian Dogwood). Siberia and northern China.
      • Cornus alternifolia (Swida alternifolia; Pagoda Dogwood
        Pagoda Dogwood

        Pagoda dogwood , also known as alternate-leaved Dogwood, is a species of dogwood native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador west to southern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Mississippi....
         or Alternate-leaf Dogwood). Eastern North America north to extreme southeast Canada.
      • Cornus amomum
        Cornus amomum

        Cornus amomum is a species of dogwood native to eastern North America, from Ontario and Quebec south to Arkansas and Georgia .It is a deciduous shrub growing to 5 m tall....
         (Swida amomum; Silky Dogwood). Eastern U.S. east of the Great Plains except for deep south, and extreme southeast Canada.
      • Cornus asperifolia (Swida asperifolia; Rough-leaf Dogwood).
      • Cornus austrosinensis (Swida austrosinensis; South China Dogwood). East Asia.
      • Cornus bretschneideri (Swida bretschneideri; Bretschneider's Dogwood). Northern China.
      • Cornus controversa (Swida controversa; Table Dogwood). East Asia.
      • Cornus coreana (Swida coreana; Korean Dogwood
        Korean Dogwood

        The Korean Dogwood is a deciduous shrub or small tree 8-16 m tall, native to eastern Asia in Korea and adjacent northeastern China. It has opposite, simple leaf, 5-12 cm long....
        ). Northeast Asia.
      • Cornus drummondii
        Cornus drummondii

        Cornus drummondii is a small deciduous tree that is native primarily to the Great Plains and Midwestern reigons of the United States. It is also found around the Mississippi River....
         (Swida drummondii; Roughleaf Dogwood). U.S. between the Appalachian
        Appalachian Mountains

        The Appalachian Mountains or , often called the Appalachians, are a vast mountain range in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians....
         belt and the Great Plains, and southern Ontario
        Ontario

        Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
        .
      • Cornus foemina (Swida foemina; Stiff Dogwood) Southeastern, Southern, and Eastern United States.
      • Cornus glabrata
        Cornus glabrata

        Cornus glabrata is a species of dogwood native to California and Oregon and known by the common names brown dogwood, smooth dogwood, and western cornel....
         (Swida glabrata; Brown Dogwood or Smooth Dogwood). Western North America.
      • Cornus hemsleyi (Swida hemsleyi; Hemsley's Dogwood). Southwest China.
      • Cornus koehneana (Swida koehneana; Koehne's Dogwood). Southwest China.
      • Cornus macrophylla (Swida macrophylla; Large-leafed Dogwood). East Asia.
      • Cornus obliqua (Swida obliqua; Pale Dogwood). Eastern North America.
      • Cornus paucinervis (Swida paucinervis). China.
      • Cornus racemosa (Swida racemosa; Northern Swamp Dogwood
        Northern Swamp Dogwood

        Cornus racemosa is a shrubby plant species growing to 5 m tall. Its native from southeastern Canada and Northeastern United States United States....
         or Gray Dogwood). Extreme southeast Canada and northeast U.S.
      • Cornus rugosa (Swida rugosa; Round-leaf Dogwood). Southeast Canada and extreme northeast U.S.
      • Cornus sanguinea (Swida sanguinea; Common Dogwood
        Common Dogwood

        The Common Dogwood is a species of dogwood native to most of Europe and western Asia, occurring north to southern England and southern Scandinavia, and east to the Caspian Sea....
        ). Europe.
      • Cornus sericea (C. stolonifera; Swida stolonifera; Red Osier Dogwood
        Red Osier Dogwood

        The Red Osier Dogwood is a species of dogwood native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland , south to Durango and Nuevo Le?n in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east....
        ). Northern North America.
      • Cornus stricta (Swida stricta; Southern Swamp Dogwood). Southeast U.S.
      • Cornus walteri (Swida walteri; Walter's Dogwood). Central China.
      • Cornus wilsoniana (Swida wilsoniana; Wilson's Dogwood). Central China.


  • Flower clusters inconspicuous, usually greenish, surrounded by large, showy petal-like bracts; fruit usually red:
    • (Sub)genus Chamaepericlymenum. Bunchberries or Dwarf cornels; two species of creeping subshrub
      Subshrub

      A subshrub is a horticultural rather than strictly botany category of woody perennial plant. It is distinguished from a shrub by its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or persisting only for a few years....
      s growing from woody stolon
      Stolon

      Stolons are horizontal plant stems which grow at the soil surface or below ground. They form new plants at the ends or at the Node s. Stolons are often called runners....
      s.
      • Cornus canadensis
        Cornus canadensis

        Cornus canadensis is a herbaceous member of the dogwood family. It grows about 20-30 cm tall and bears tiny flowers a few millimeters across that form an inflorescence at the center of four white, petal-like bracts 3-4 cm diameter....
         (Chamaepericlymenum canadense; Canadian Dwarf Cornel or Bunchberry) Northern North America.
      • Cornus suecica
        Cornus suecica

        Cornus suecica is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cornus, native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of Europe and Asia, and also locally in extreme northeast and northwest North America....
         (Chamaepericlymenum suecicum; Eurasian Dwarf Cornel or Bunchberry). Northern Eurasia, locally in extreme northeast and northwest North America.
      • Cornus × unalaschkensis (hybrid C. canadensis × C. suecica). Aleutian Islands, Greenland, Labrador.


    • (Sub)genus Benthamidia (syn. subgenus Dendrobenthamia, subgenus Cynoxylon). Flowering dogwoods; five species of trees, divisible into two subgroups (Benthamidia, with individual drupes, and Dendrobenthamia, with the drupes coalaced into a compound fruit).
      • Cornus capitata
        Cornus capitata

        Cornus capitata is a species of dogwood known by the common names Bentham's cornel, Himalayan flowering dogwood, and evergreen dogwood....
         (Benthamidia capitata, Dendrobenthamia capitata; Himalayan Flowering Dogwood). Himalaya.
      • Cornus florida (Benthamidia florida; Flowering Dogwood
        Flowering Dogwood

        Cornus florida is a species of dogwood native to eastern North America, from southern Maine west to southern Ontario and eastern Kansas, and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas and also in Illinois, with a disjunct population in eastern Mexico in Nuevo Le?n and Veracruz....
        ). U.S. east of the Great Plains, north to southern Ontario.
      • Cornus hongkongensis (Benthamidia hongkongensis, Dendrobenthamia hongkongensis; Hongkong Dogwood). Southern China, Laos
        Laos

        Laos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west....
        , Vietnam
        Vietnam

        Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
        .
      • Cornus kousa (Benthamidia kousa, Dendrobenthamia kousa; Kousa Dogwood
        Kousa Dogwood

        The Kousa Dogwood , also known as the Japanese Flowering Dogwood , is a small deciduous tree 8-12 m tall, native to eastern Asia. Like most dogwoods, it has opposite, simple leaf, which are 4-10 cm long....
        ). Japan and (as subsp. chinensis) central and northern China.
      • Cornus nuttallii (Benthamidia nuttallii; Pacific Dogwood
        Pacific Dogwood

        The Pacific Dogwood, Cornus nuttallii , is a species of dogwood native to western North America from lowlands of southern British Columbia to mountains of southern California....
        ). Western North America from British Columbia
        British Columbia

        British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ....
         to California
        California

        California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
        .


Characteristics of Dogwood

Most species have opposite leaves and a few have alternate. The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 of all species is a drupe
Drupe

In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovary....
 with one or two seeds. Flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s have four parts.

Many species in subgenus Swida are stolon
Stolon

Stolons are horizontal plant stems which grow at the soil surface or below ground. They form new plants at the ends or at the Node s. Stolons are often called runners....
iferous shrubs, growing along waterways. Several of these are used in naturalizing landscape plantings, especially the species with bright red or bright yellow stems. Most of the species in subgenus Benthamidia are small trees used as ornamental plant
Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
s. As flowering trees, they are of rare elegance and beauty, comparable to Carolina silverbell, Canadian serviceberry, and the Eastern Redbud
Eastern Redbud

Cercis canadensis Carolus Linnaeus is a large shrub or small tree native to Eastern United States North America from southern Ontario, Canada south to northern Florida, United States....
 for their ornamental qualities.

The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 of several species in the subgenera Cornus and Benthamidia is edible, though without much flavour. The berries of those in subgenus Swida are mildly toxic to people, though readily eaten by bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s. Dogwoods are used as food plants by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
 species including Emperor Moth, The Engrailed
Engrailed

'The Engrailed' is a moth of the family Geometridae. Some authors split this moth into two species: E. bistortata 'The Engrailed' and E....
, Small Angle Shades
Small Angle Shades

The Small Angle Shades is a moth of the family Noctuidae. it is distributed throughout Europe.As the common name suggests, this species is closely related to the Angle Shades and is considerably smaller but it does not especially resemble that species....
 and the following case-bearers of the genus Coleophora
Coleophora

Coleophora is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae with around 1000 described species. The genus is represented on all continents but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions....
: C. ahenella, C. salicivorella (recorded on Cornus canadensis), C. albiantennaella, C. cornella and C. cornivorella (The latter three feed exclusively on Cornus). They were used by pioneers to brush their teeth. The pioneers would peel off the bark, bite the twig and then scrub their teeth.

Dogwood in government insignia

Numerous varieties of Dogwood are represented in the insignia of U.S. states and Canadian provinces.

The inflorescence
Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches....
 of Pacific Dogwood is the official flower of the province of British Columbia
British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ....


The Dogwood (Cornus florida) and its inflorescence are the state tree and the state flower respectively for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
. It is also the state tree of Missouri
Missouri

Missouri is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska....
 and the state flower of North Carolina
North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
.

Etymology and other meanings

The word dogwood comes from dagwood, from the use of the slender stems of very hard wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
 for making 'dags' (daggers, skewers). The wood was also highly prized for making loom shuttles, arrows, tool handles, and other small items that required a very hard and strong wood.

Larger items were also made of dogwood such as the screw in basket-style wine or fruit presses, also made were the first styles of tennis racket's made out of the bark cut in thin strips.

Another earlier name of the dogwood in English is the whipple-tree. Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, Bureaucracy, Noble court and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales....
 uses the word whippletree in the Canterbury Tales (The Knight's Tale
The Knight's Tale

"The Knight's Tale" is the first short story from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.The "Knight's Tale" is about two knights, nephews of King Creon of Thebes with a close brotherly bond....
, verse 2065) to refer to the dogwood. Another larger item made of dogwood still bears the name of the tree from which it is carved. The whippletree is an element of the traction of a horse-drawn cart, which links the drawpole of the cart to the harnesses of the horses in file.

The name Dog-Tree entered English vocabulary by 1548, and had been further transformed to Dogwood by 1614. Once the name dogwood was affixed to the tree, it soon acquired a secondary name as the Hound's Tree, while the fruits came to be known as dogberries or houndberries (the latter a name also for the berries of Black nightshade
Black nightshade

Black nightshade may refer to:* Solanum americanum of much of North America* Solanum nigrum of Europe* Solanum ptychanthum of the Caribbean region...
 & alluding to Hecate's
Hecate

Hecate Hekate , or Hekat was originally a goddess of the wilderness and childbirth, naturalized early in Mycenaean Greece or in Thrace, but originating among the Carians of Anatolia, the region where most theophoric names invoking Hecate, such as Hecataeus or Hecatomnus, progenitor of Mausollus, are attested, and where Hekate re...
 hounds).

It is possible that the common name of Dogwood may have come because “dogs were washed with a brew of its bark, hence Dogwood.” Another name is blood-twig, due to the red colour it turns in autumn.

In botany
Botany

Botany, plant science, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of biology and is the Scientific method of plant life and development....
 and in colloquial
Colloquialism

A colloquialism is an expression not used in formal Speech communication, writing or paralinguistics. Colloquialisms are also sometimes referred to collectively as "colloquial language"....
 use, the term "dogwood winter" may be used to describe a cold snap
Cold snap

Cold snap is used in two ways to describe climate:*in geology, a period of intensely cold and dry weather, often occurring during an Ice Age*an unseasonally cold period in spring....
 in spring
Spring (season)

Spring is one of the four temperate seasons. Spring marks the transition from winter into summer....
.

The legend of the dogwood

There is a Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 legend
Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude ....
 of unknown origin that proclaims that the cross
Christian cross

The Christian cross is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity. It is a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ....
 used to crucify Jesus
Crucifixion of Jesus

The crucifixion of Jesus is an event described in all four gospels which takes place immediately after Arrest of Jesus and Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus....
 was constructed of dogwood. As the story goes, during the time of Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
, the dogwood was larger and stronger than it is today and was the largest tree in the area of Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
. After his crucifixion
Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution , whereby the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead....
, Jesus changed the plant to its current form: he shortened it and twisted its branches to assure an end to its use for the construction of crosses. He also transformed its inflorescence
Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches....
 into a representation of the crucifixion itself, with the four white bracts cross-shaped, which represent the four corners of the cross, each bearing a rusty indentation as of a nail and the red stamen
Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s of the flower, represents Jesus' crown of thorns
Crown of Thorns

In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion , was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus before Crucifixion of Jesus....
, and the clustered red fruit represent his blood.

External links

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