- Region
- North America
- Origin
- Deciduous woods in eastern North America, from Ontario and Maine to Florida and Texas, and in northeastern Mexico
- Traditions
- Cherokee medicine
North America · Herb · № 991
Cornus florida
Herb · North America
Flowering dogwood
Cornus florida
A small tree with large white bracts around a knot of tiny flowers in spring, red berries and red autumn leaves. The bark is astringent and bitter; in the American Civil War it served as a substitute for quinine, and in the laboratory compounds from the bark moderately inhibited the malaria parasite. The berries are poisonous to people.
Safety notes
The berries are poisonous. Do not take the bark for long or in large amounts, not in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, and not for children. Persistent fever needs a doctor. Traditional use is no proof of effect; consult a doctor or pharmacist if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, take medication or have a medical condition.
Cautions by tradition (1)
- Cherokee (Tsalagi) medicine: The berries are poisonous; not in pregnancy or for children.
Preparation
A tea of a teaspoon of dried bark or a few flowers, steeped for 10 minutes.
Use in traditions
For the Cherokee the blooming of the dogwood showed it was time to plant corn. According to Hamel and Chiltoskey they chewed the bark for headache, used the root bark for fever, wounds and ulcers, and drank an infusion of the flowers to sweat off flu or for colic. Children with worms were given a bath and a drink of the bark, and women drank it for backache. After 'poisons of any kind' people bathed in an infusion of beaten bark. In the mountains the wood was used for weaving shuttles.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Cherokee (Tsalagi) medicine
Attributed effects
For headache, fever, wounds and ulcers, to sweat off flu, for colic, for women's backache, and as a bath and drink for children with worms. The blooming showed that the planting season had begun.
Preparation and amount
Chew the bark; a tea of bark or flowers.
Caution: The berries are poisonous; not in pregnancy or for children.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)