Trailing the dogwood 



Martha H. Hollinshead 



It is a long way from the flowering dogwood and the Ata- 

 masco lily in South Carolina to the Pacific dogwood and the 

 mariposa lily in California. The lilies are not essential to the 

 dogwood but the pines of the South and the redwoods of the 

 Northwest are, for the dogwood does not grow in pure stands, 

 as the lumbermen say, but under and among other trees. 



One day in April near Summerville, South Carolina, we 

 drove along a road e.xactly to our liking. We passed through 

 groves of the long-leaf pines to a road bordered by young mag- 

 nolia trees whose flowers were "just begunnen to open" our 

 colored driver said, and came to a so-called "island" where 

 there were tall trees whose green tops overshadowed pink 

 clouds of azalea, greenish white foam of fringetree, and snow- 

 banks of dogwood. The level branches of the latter caught the 

 rays of the setting sun as they penetrated the dark woods and 

 made an unforgettable picture. 



The flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, is found in that por- 

 tion of the United States bounded by the Great Lakes, Atlantic 

 Ocean from Maine to northern Florida, the Gulf of Mexico as 

 far west as Texas and east of a line drawn from Texas to Iowa, 

 so that it is quite familiar in the central, eastern and southern 

 States. 



On the Pacific coast, other species of dogwood are found 

 from California to British Columbia. The Pacific dogwood, 

 Cornus Nuttallii, is one of the four species that grow to tree-size. 

 It is taller than Cornus florida and sometimes reaches a height 

 of 100 feet, while the eastern tree seldom rises above 40 feet. 



In late April and early May in New Jersey and Pennsyl- 

 vania, the "blossoms on the dogwood unfold their silken wings" 

 and their beauty adorns the woodlands. In Pennsylvania, the 

 dogwood is associated with oaks, elms, maples, shrubby Cornus 

 and azaleas to make a lovely natural landscape. When planted 

 on lawns with the pink variety and some evergreens, it rivals 

 the Japanese cherry in attractiveness. 



Frances Duncan says "The flowers lift their faces to the sun, 

 without a thought of turning so that the passer-by may have 

 a better look." There is a belief that the fisherman will have 



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