What Does Dogwood Look Like?

If you're new to landscaping, perhaps you've heard a lot of talk about "dogwood" but aren't sure what dogwood looks like. Steve Nix remedies that with his photo gallery, showing not only dogwood flowers, pink types as well as white, but also examples of the plant form of dogwood trees. This sure beats trying to tell a dogwood from its bark!

Seriously, though, etymologists tell us that the word "dogwood" has nothing to do with dogs. Instead, it harkens back to an old word, "dag" (think "dagger"), which referred to a sharp tool. Dogwood branches were useful in making such tools, since the wood is so hard. Indeed, the Latin genus name for dogwood is Cornus and means "horn."