Dogwood: Cornus florida

Plant Family & Name:

a. Cornaceae (Dogwood family)

b. Cornus comes from the Latin cornu, meaning “horn,” traditionally referring to the hard, dense wood of dogwood trees.

Florida means “flowering” or “abundant in flowers,” referring to the tree’s spectacular spring display.

Dogwood is also known as:

• Flowering dogwood

• American dogwood

• Eastern dogwood

• Boxwood

• Cornelian tree — although this name is more properly associated with a different Cornus species

The familiar white “petals” aren’t actually petals. They are showy bracts surrounding the small cluster of true flowers in the center.

Habitat & Ecological role: Flowering dogwood is native to the eastern and southeastern United States and parts of northern Mexico.

Parts Used: The inner bark has been used, particularly as a bitter, astringent, tonic, and fever remedy.

Herbal Actions: astringent, bitter tonic, febrifuge, antiperiodic, analgesic, and mildly stimulant.

Season: Spring for bark and  flowers. Late summer through autumn for fruit. 

For sustainable harvesting, bark should not be stripped from living trunks because this can seriously injure or kill the tree.

Taste: Bitter, astringent, woody, slightly aromatic.

Energetic Qualities: Cooling to neutral, drying, astringent, strengthening, bitter, grounding.

Indications: fevers, digestive weakness, diarrhea

Body system affinities: Digestive, immune, circulatory, musculoskeletal.

Safety: Because the bark is strongly bitter and astringent, concentrated preparations may cause gastrointestinal irritation.

*Correct species identification is particularly important because many Cornus species exist.