The Dogwood

Teacher's Story

HERE is no prettier story among the flowers than that of the bracts of the dogwood, and it is a subject for investigation which any child can work out for himself. I shall never forget the thrill of triumph I experienced when I discovered for myself the cause of the mysterious dark notch at the tip of each great white bract, which I had for years idly noticed. One day my curiosity mastered my inertia, and I hunted a tree over for a flower bud, for it was rather late in the season; finally I was rewarded by finding the bracts in all stages of development.

The flowering dogwood forms its buds during the summer, and of course they must have winter protection; therefore, they are wrapped in four, close-clasping, purplish brown scales, one pair inside and one pair outside, both thick and well fitted to protect the bunch of tiny flower buds at their center. But when spring comes, these motherly bud-scales change their duties, and by rapid growth become four beautiful white or pinkish bracts calling aloud to all the insect world that here at their hearts is something sweet. For months they brood the flowers and then display them to an admiring world. The artistic eye loves the little notch at the tip of the bracts, even before it has read in it the story of winter protection, of which it is an evidence.

Blossom and bud of dogwood, enlarged.

The study of the flowers at the center is more interesting if aided by a lens. Within each blossom can be seen its tube, set in the four-lobed calyx. It has four slender petals curled back, its four chubby, greenish yellow anthers set on filaments which lift them up between the petals; and at the center of all is the tiny green pistil. There may be twenty, more or less, of these perfect flowers in this tiny, greenish yellow bunch at the center of the four great, flaring bracts. These flowers do not open simultaneously, and the yellow buds and open flowers are mingled together in the rosette. The calyx shows better on the bud than on the open flower. It might be well to explain to the pupils that a bract is simply a leaf in some other business than that ordinarily performed by leaves.

The twigs have a beautiful, smooth bark, purplish brown above and greenish below. The flowers grow at the tips of the twigs; and the young leaves are just below the flowers and also at the tips of the twigs. These twigs are spread and bent in a peculiar way, so that each white flower-head may be seen by the admiring world and not be hidden behind any of its neighbors. This habit makes this tree a favorite for planting, since it forms a mass of white bloom.

The flowers of dogwood.  Photo by Cyrus Crosby.

The dogwood banners unfurl before the flowers at their hearts open, and they remain after the last flower has received within itself the gracious, vital pollen which will enable it to mature into a beautiful berry. This long period of bloom is another quality which adds to the value of the dogwood as an ornamental tree. At the time the bracts fall, the curly petals also fall out leaving the little calyx-tubes standing with style and stigma projecting from their centers, making them look like a bunch of liliputian churns with dashers. In autumn, the foliage turns to a rich, purplish crimson—a most satisfying color.

During the winter, the flowering dogwood, which renders our forests so beautiful in early spring, may be readily recognized by its bark, which is broken up into small scales and mottled like the skin of a serpent; and on the tips of its branches are the beautiful clusters of red berries, or speaking more exactly, drupes. This fruit is oval, with a brilliant, shining, red, pulpy covering which must be attractive to birds. At its tip it has a little purple crown, in the center of which may be seen the remnant of the style, but this attractive outside covers a seed with a very thick, hard shell, which is quite indigestible and fully able to protect, even from the attack of the digestive juices of the bird's stomach, the tender white kernel within it, which includes the stored food and the embryo. There are in the North two other common species of dogwood which have dark blue fruit.

The flower buds of the dogwood are formed during the previous season.

Method—Bring in a branch of the dogwood when it is in flower. The branch should have upon it some flowers that are unopened. Study the flower first, and ask the pupils to discover for themselves why the great white bracts have a notch in the tip. A lens is a great help to the interest in studying these tiny flowers.

2. How many of these flowers are there at the center of the dogwood "blossom"? What color are they? Would they show off much if it were not for the great white banners around them? Do we not think of these great white bracts as the dogwood flower?

3. Study one of these banners. What is its shape? Are the four white bracts the same shape and size? Make a sketch of these four bracts with the bunch of flowers at the center. What is there peculiar about each one of these white bracts. Why should this notch be there? Find one of the flower-heads which is not yet opened and watch it develop, and then write a little story of the work done in the winter for the flowers by these bracts and the different work done by them in the spring, all for the sake of the precious blossoms.

4. Sketch the bracts from below. Is one pair wider than the other? Is the wider pair inside or outside? Why is this so?

5. Where are the flowers of the dogwood borne? How are the twigs arranged so as to unfurl all the banners and not hide one behind another, so that the whole tree is a mass of white?

6. While studying the flowers, study where the young leaves come from. Can you still see the scales which protected the leaf buds?

7. What kind of fruit develops from the dogwood blossoms? What colors are its leaves in autumn?