Cornus spp. of the family Cornaceae. Most commonly this is "flowering dogwood" (which is Cornus florida of the Family Cornaceae) but there are at least 40 members of the genus Cornus, some others of which also produce lumber.
In addition, there are at least another 40 species from two dozen genera that have dogwood as all or part of one or more of their common names, so "dogwood" is not necessarily much of a help in figuring out what species a wood is.
Fairly heavy and fine grained, it turns very nicely, and it has a very high shock resistance that makes it ideal for wooden mallets, chisle handles, and textile shuttles.
Dogwood pith is hexagonal, often as a 6 pointed star or close to it.
my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions
These samples were provided by William Brooke in Beautiful Mt. Lehman, B.C. --- I have never visited Mt Lehman and so cannot say what color it truly is, but William says it is beautiful and who am I to argue? My thanks for this, and other samples that William has provided.
I note that this dogwood has the same smooth pink appearance and texture as European pearwood veneer.
plank #1, "raw" with a slight patina from age and a light coat of oil that William put on it, and then the same piece after I fine-sanded it. This piece has some spalting, as you can see, and also some rot along the crotch line where a small branch came into the trunk.
the other side of plank #1, again raw and then sanded and then moistened with water (after it was sanded)
end grain of plank #1, fine-sanded
a couple of end grain closeups of plank #1 after I re-sanded the butt end to show the grain better --- not all that fine a sanding job, as you can see from the scratch marks in the end grain shot itself, but MUCH better than it was in the pics directly above. For clear results, see directly below.
the other side of plank #2, also raw then fine-sanded
both ends of plank #2, both fine-sanded
small sample piece of dogwood
both sides of a sample plank of Western dogwood / Cornus occidentalis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Western dogwood / Cornus occidentalis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Western dogwood / Cornus occidentalis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a quartersawn western dogwood sample plank with ray flakes
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- notice how on the end grain shot (not the closeup) it is very clear how the ray flakes on the face surface show up most prominently when the growth rings are directly perpendicular to that surface (meaning the rays are parallel to that surface, which is why the ray flakes show up so well) and that the flakes are much less prominent when the growth rings are at an angle to the face --- the 2nd enlargement shows this really clearly.
END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- definitely a case where the fine sanding makes a noticeable difference in the color of the wood (thus the more reddish color in this pic than in the one it is an update of)
sample plank and end grain --- this was listed specifically as flowering dogwood / Cornus florida --- the color on this pic is quite bad. The wood is actually grayish tan with a hint of red.
both sides of a sample plank of flowering dogwood / Cornus florida --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of flowering dogwood / Cornus florida --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample of pink dogwood --- HUGE enlargements are present; the ray flakes on the face grain show up much better in the face grain closeup down below
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
face grain closeup and side grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of alternate leaf dogwood / Cornus alternifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of alternate leaf dogwood / Cornus alternifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of alternate leaf dogwood / Cornus alternifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of alternate leaf dogwood / Cornus alternifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of silky dogwood / Cornus amomum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of silky dogwood / Cornus amomum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of silky dogwood / Cornus amomum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of silky dogwood / Cornus amomum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of silky dogwood / Cornus amomum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Kousa dogwood / Cornus kousa --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. I don't know why the unlabeled side has slightly more pink in the color, it just does.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of giant dogwood / Cornus controversa --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
both sides of a sample plank of gray dogwood / Cornus racemosa --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Pacific dogwood / Cornus nuttallii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of dogwood / Cornus spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of dogwood / Cornus spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was send to me by Mike Stafford for identification. I'm confident that it is dogwood.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
alternate leaved dogwood (Cornus alternifolia, also listed as alternate leaved cornel) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
flowering dogwood (Cornus florida, also listed as boxwood) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
Western dogwood (Cornus nattallii, also listed as flowering dogwood) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
web pics:
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
spalted log halves (might be two views of the same piece)
a slab dry and then wet and another just dry. These were just listed as dogwood.
slab pair and closeup; the closeup, at least, appears to have been moistened but the regular shot may show the wood dry. These were just listed as dogwood.
slab listed as dogwood with no mention of figure but clearly there's some curl --- both levels of enlargement are present
3 views of the same 2 planks
dogwood slabs and turning stock
a plank listed as flowering dogwood, but I am VERY doubtful about this identification given the figure
planks
dogwood crotch
planks specifically listed as Cornus nuttalii
pen blanks
bowl blank and turning stock
small slabs listed as drijen / cornel / Cornus mas (and which is more commonly called "common dogwood" in the USA --- dirjen is an Eastern European name). The piece on the right has been moistened for the pic and as you can see, moistening has only a modest effect on the color, probably because the wood is so dense.
pink dogwood
mallet
top and bottom of a bowl
two views of a bowl
dogwood bowl and a closeup
dogwood bowls turned and photographed by Tom Pleatman, whom I thank for these pics and other contributions to the site. Big enlargements are present.
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