Although the woods are mostly brown today with only a few trees sprouting leaves, there’s still plenty of beauty to be found, especially in the showy blooms of Flowering Dogwood.
Flowering Dogwood is fairly small, usually 20-30 feet tall. It is a useful tree not only for its eye-catching appeal in the springtime, but its berry-like fruit is eaten by many bird species as well as other animals in the autumn.
The dogwood sprouts tiny greenish-yellow flowers in clusters, with each flower surrounded by four large white bracts (often incorrectly labeled as petals). It is considered by many the most spectacular of the native, flowering trees.
There is much Christian religious folklore surrounding this tree. The blooms often appear in the shape of a cross, with holes in the tips of the pedals signifying the nails that were driven into the cross. If you look closely at these holes you can notice a faint red stain representing the blood. In the center you will find a green bloom symbolizing the crown of thorns placed on the head of Jesus.
