Wildflower - Dogwood

The wild Dogwoods (Cornus florida) are starting to put on a showy display of white in the woodlands. It may appear that dogwoods have large white flowers, the true flowers are small, yellow-green, insignificant, and clustered in the middle of the four white showy bracts ( "petals" ).



While the true flowers of the Dogwood may be small, the large white bracts make the Dogwood stand out against the dull background of early spring.



Wood from the Dogwood tree is hard, strong, heavy, fine-grained, and shock-resistant The wood is used for tool handles, tool parts and golf clubs.