Dark grey, brown, or black. Developes small square or rectangular blocks.
Bloom Characteristics:
Compound, perfect flowers bloom for about 2 weeks before the tree leafs out. These flowers are small and yellow-green, but surrounded by 4 large white bracts that are deeply notched. These are each 2" long, making the total diameter of the bracts and flowers 4".
Fall Color:
Red to red-purple; in September and October
Foliage Characteristics:
Simple, oval to ovate leaves are arranged oppositely and 3-6" long.
Fruit Characteristics:
Berry-like drupes are held in clusters of 3-4, .33-.5" long, and a shiny red. Fruit ripen in September and October.
Key ID Characteristics:
"Alligator bark" on mature trees, large showy flowers (bracts), and onion-shaped terminal flower buds.
Structure:
Broadly-pyramidal to flat-topped
Range:
SE Canada to E Mexico
Habitat:
Understory of E deciduous and S coniferous forests
Description:
This native understory tree is both beautiful and beneficial. In the spring, dogwoods are blanketed in (what appear to be) large, white flowers. In the fall, they are one of the first trees to change color, signalling the start of fall as their leaves turn red. Once those leaves fall, they build up healthy soil, since they disintegrate quickly. Wild dogwoods indicate an area that likely has rich soil, but can also be planted in areas with poor soil, such as former strip mines, to reclaim and replenish the earth. Birds also love this tree's shiny red, berry-like fruit. Dogwoods' beauty and benefit make them excellent trees to plant.
In the exchange of flowering trees in 1912-15 between Japan and the US which gave Washington, DC its famous flowering cherries, the US gifted 40 dogwood saplings to Japan. In 2012, the US renewed this gift with 3,000 more saplings.
This is the state tree of Missouri and Virginia. It is Endangered in Maine, Threatened in Vermont, and Exploitably Vulnerable in New York.
Hardiness:
-20 - 30 F
Attracts:
Bees; birds; butterflies
Bloom Time:
April to May
Ethnobotanical Uses:
The very hard wood of this tree was used to make weaver's shuttles, chisels, golf club heads, yokes, wheel cogs, pulleys, roller-skate wheels, knitting needles, and more. Some Native American peoples made a scarlet dye from the roots.
Medicinal / Pharmaceutical:
Some Native American peoples made medicinal teas from the bark, and Civil War doctors used it as a quinine substitute. The tree also contains cornine, which is used medicinally in some parts of Mexico.
