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Florida Dogwood | | Name : | Florida Dogwood | | Synonyms : | Americandogwood
Boxwood
Budwood
CornelianTree
Dogtree
FalseBox
Floridacornel
Floridadogwood
Floweringcornel
Floweringdogwood
GreenOzier
Virginiadogwood
| | Parts Used : | Inner bark, berries, twigs | | Habitat : | Found from Maine to Florida and west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas.
Grows in the understorey of woods, along roadsides and in old fields | | Description : | Dogwood is a native American, our most showy deciduous tree, growingto 30 feet high; the bark is brown and rough, the leaves opposite,ovate, pointed, and darker green above than beneath. Latex threadsappear at veins when leaves are split apart. The flowers are smalland greenish-yellow but are obscured by the large, white or pink bractsso that the whole looks like a large white or pink flower. Flowersare in clusters, April-May. The fruit is a glossy, dry, scarlet berrytwo celled and two seeds, is inedible and very bitter; October-November.
Other varieties: Chinese dogwood (Cornus machrophylla), Chinesename Sung-yang; in Japan this tree is Celtis muku or Ehretia serrata;Jamaican dogwood (Piscidia erythrina) used medicinally for panic attacksand excessive stress; and Osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) usedby the Native Americans, the inner bark has properties of quinineused as tea internally. | | Constituents : | Tannic and gallic acids, resin, gum, oil, wax, lignin, lime potashand iron
Astringent, febrifuge, stimulant, tonic | | Uses : | Dogwood bark is best used as an ointment for ague, malaria(substitute for quinine), fever,pneumonia, colds,and similar complaints. Used for diarrhea.Externally, poulticed onto external ulcersand sores. Twigs used as chewingsticks, forerunners of the toothpick. It was sometimes used as a substitutewhen Peruvian bark could not be obtained. | | Dosage : | Use only dried dogwood bark. Fresh bark upsets the stomach and bowels.
Infusion: steep 1 tbsp. bark in 1 pint water for 30 minutesand strain. Take 1/2 cup every 2-3 hours.
Tincture: take 20-40 drops in water, as needed. | | Safety : | As with hard toothbrushes, dogwood chewing sticks can cause recedinggums. | | Myths : | Widely used in the South, especially during the Civil War for malarialfevers and chronic diarrhea.
An 1830 herbal reported that the Native Americans and captive Africansin Virginia were remarkable for the whiteness of their teeth, andattributed it to the use of Dogwood chewing sticks. Once chewed fora few minutes, the tough fibers at the ends of the twigs split intoa fine soft 'brush'. Also, the Native American tribe, the Arikaras,mixed bearberry with the dried inner bark of the red dogwood to makesacred tobacco which they smoked in a regulation red pipestone pipe. |
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