The genus Cornus contains about 40 species which grow in the northern temperate regions of the world. The name cornus is derived from the Latin name of the type species Cornus mas L., Cornelian-cherry of Europe, from the word for horn (cornu), referring to the hardness of the wood.
Cornus alternifolia alternate leaf dogwood, blue dogwood, green-osier, pagoda, pagoda cornel, pagoda dogwood, pigeonberry, purple dogwood, umbrella-tree
Cornus drummondii roughleaf dogwood, rough-leaved dogwood
Cornus florida arrowwood, boxwood, bunchberry, cornel, dogwood (used bark to treat dog's mange), false boxwood, Florida dogwood, flowering dogwood, white cornel
Cornus glabrata brown dogwood, flowering dogwood, mountain dogwood, Pacific dogwood, smooth dogwood, western flowering dogwood
Cornus nuttallii California dogwood, flowering dogwood, mountain dogwood, Pacific dogwood, western dogwood, western flowering dogwood
Cornus occidentalis western dogwood
Cornus racemosa blue-fruit dogwood, gray dogwood, stiffcornel, stiffcornel dogwood, stiff dogwood, swamp dogwood
Cornus rugosa roundleaf dogwood
Cornus sessilis blackfruit dogwood, miners dogwood
Cornus stolonifera American dogwood, California dogwood, creek dogwood, kinnikinnik, red dogwood, red-osier dogwood, red-panicled dogwood, redstem dogwood, squawbush, western dogwood
Cornus stricta bluefruit dogwood, stiffcornel, stiffcornel dogwood, swamp dogwood
The following description is for flowering dogwood.
Distribution: North America, from Maine to New York, Ontario, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri south to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas east to Florida.
The Tree: Flowering dogwood is well known for its white flower clusters with large white bracts opening in the spring. The fall foliage is bright red. It is a slow-growing tree which attains a height of 40 ft (12 m) and a diameter of 16 inches (40 cm). The bark looks like reddish-brown alligator skin. The tree grows best along streams and in well-drained soils.
General Wood Characteristics: The sapwood of dogwood is wide and creamy in color, while the heartwood is reddish brown to brown, sometimes streaked in white. The wood has a fine, uniform texture with a hard, compact interlocked grain. Strength is similar to that of European Beech, but higher in hardness and shock resistance and slightly lower in stiffness.
Weighta
Weight
Moisture Specific lb/ft3 kg/m3
content gravity
Green 0.64 64 1,025
12% 0.73 51 817
Ovendry 0.80 NA NA
aReference (59).
Mechanical propertiesa
Property Green Dry
MOE 1.18 106 8.136 GPa 1.53 106 10.549 GPa
lbf/in2 lbf/in2
MOR 8.80 103 60.676 MPa 14.9 103 102.736 MPa
lbf/in2 lbf/in2
C| | 3.64 103 25.098 MPa 7.70 103 53.092 MPa
lbf/in2 lbf/in2
C 1.03 103 7.102 MPa 1.92 103 13.238 MPa
lbf/in2 lbf/in2
WML 21.0 144.795 19.5 134.453
in-lbf/in3 kJ/m3 in-lbf/in3 kJ/m3
Hardness 1,410 lbf 6,271.68 N 2,150 lbf 9,563.20 N
Shear| | 1.52 103 10.480 MPa 2.26 103 15.582 MPa
lbf/in2 lbf/in2
aReference (59).
Drying and shrinkagea,b
Percentage of shrinkage
(green to final moisture
content)
Type of 0% MC 6% MC 20% MC
shrinkage
Tangential 11.3 9.4 3.9
Radial 7.1 5.9 2.5
Volumetric 19.9 16.6 6.9
aDogwood will check unless dried slowly
under controlled
conditions. It shows large movement
under changing
moisture conditions.
bReferences: 0% MC, (59); 6% and 20%
MC, (90).
Kiln drying schedulea
4/4, 5/4, 8/4 10/4 12/4 16/4
Condition 6/4 stock stock stock stock
stock
Standard T6-C3 T3-C2 NA NA NA
aReferences (6, 86).
Working Properties: Dogwood can be sawn, planed, and turned easily, and it takes a glossy finish.
Durability: Nonresistant to heartwood decay because of the small percentage of heartwood.
Preservation: No information available at this time.
Uses: Weaving shuttles, spool and bobbin heads, small pulleys, skewers, golf club heads, tool handles, charcoal for gunpowder, red dye from bark of roots, medicine from stem bark.
Toxicity: No information available at this time.
Additional Reading: 29, 55, 63, 68, 74. 55, 66, 68, 74, 79. 28, 29, 42, 43, 44, 48, 50, 55, 56, 68, 72, 73, 74, 79, 92, 97, 102. 74, 75, 77, 99, 106. 101.