More Spring Blooms

Further evidence that you don't have to walk very far to take-in some of Ma Nature's work just take a stroll around the yard to take it in.  

Meet Cornus Stolonifera – Red-osier Dogwood – also known as red-twig dogwood and kinnikinnik.  It grows everywhere around here as individual shrubs or thickets.  It typically has multiple stems and this time of year sports flat-topped clusters of creamy white flowers that will lead to umbrella-shaped clusters of berries in late summer.  This fruit is popular with the birds which explains why this shrub is growing everywhere around here.   

The common name for this shrub comes from the red twigs that resemble osier willows that are used in basketry.  The Latin name comes from the rooting of branch tips the reach to the ground to form new shoots or stolons.  

This shrub was important to Native Americans for its use as a tobacco substitute or kinnikinnik.  The inner bark of young stems was split and scraped into threads and toasted over a fire before being mixed with real tobacco.  Edible plant enthusiast H.D. Harrington wrote that Red-osier - is said to be aromatic and pungent, giving a narcotic effect approaching stupefaction.  He cautioned that it should be used in moderation.    

For as long as anyone can remember people have used this shrub for basketry, wicker, farm implements, and weaving shuttles.  The bark takes-on a deep red color in winter and is popularly-favored in holiday decor.   

The word - dogwood - comes from the Scandinavian term “dag” meaning skewer (for the hardened sticks used to roast meat). And while this shrub has nothing to do with our canine friends it is always worth remembering that you can always tell that it is a dogwood by its bark.