2 BULLETIN 1436, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
persimmon consumed for squares or small dimension material as well 
as for shuttles is gradually increasing, chiefly because more persim- 
mon than dogwood is available and because persimmon as a general 
rule is larger and less defective. Like dogwood, it has commanded 
a higher price than most other woods native to the United States. 
Price data covering any period of years for dogwood and persim- 
mon dimension stock and persimmon lumber are scanty. The reports 
of prices received by the Forest Service and the Bureau of the Census 
from dealers in dogwood and persimmon, although erratic and incon- 
sistent from year to year, indicate that the price for each wood has 
risen steadily during the last 15 years. Users of dogwood and per- 
simmon find themselves paying more each year for small dimension 
stock, and find increasing difficulty in obtaining suitable material, 
especially dogwood, as the supply of sizable timber diminishes. 
Table 1. — Characteristics of the Dogivoods 
Maximum 
size 
Color of wood 
Name 
Range 
Color of flower 
Color 
of 
Height 
Diam- 
eter 
Heart- 
wood 
Sapwood 
berries 
Feet 
Inches 
Flowering dogwood 
Eastern United 
40 
18 
Reddish 
Pink- 
Snowy white 
Bright. 
( Cornus florida, 
States. 
brown 
ish or 
to pinkish 
scar- 
Linn.). 
to choc- 
ol a t e 
brown. 
light 
brown 
white. 
let- 
Pacific dogwood (Cor- 
West coast 
100 
24 
Red dish 
White or 
Snowy white 
Shiny 
nus nuttallii, Aud.). 
States and 
British Co- 
lumbia. 
brown. 
pale 
pinkish 
b r own 
or pinkish. 
red. 
Blue dogwood (Cornus 
Northern 
30 
18 
Brown 
Light 
Creamy white. 
Purple 
alter nifolia, Linn.). 
Lfnited States 
and on the 
A p p a lachian 
Mountains. 
brown. 
Rough-leaf dogwood 
Central United 
30 
10 
Pale 
Cream.. 
do 
White. 
( Cornus asperifolia, 
States. 
brown. 
Michx.). 
Both woods are so well suited for certain specialized articles in 
domestic and foreign industry, and the supply of each is so limited 
that they should be utilized with a minimum of waste. 
THE TREES 
DOGWOOD 
In the whole world there are about 50 species of dogwood. Of the 
16 or 17 species native to the United States only 4 grow to tree size 
(at least 8 feet in height and 2 inches in diameter) — flowering dog- 
wood, Pacific dogwood, rough-leaf dogwood, and blue dogwood. 
Table 1 gives the chief characteristics of these four species, of which 
the most important commercially is the flowering dogwood. Although 
flowering dogwood is not so large as its Pacific relative Cornus nut- 
tallii, its occurrence on a large area in the eastern part of the United 
States near the present consuming markets and principal points of 
export gives it an obvious advantage. 
Flowering dogwood gets its name from the profusion of flowers 
that it bears in the spring. (Fig. 1.) It blooms early, in March in 
