FEATURE
What���s in a Name?
Bryan Mims ponders the importance of the dogwood tree
I
By Bryan Mims
had never given much thought to the
origin of the name ���dogwood tree.���
Like turkey oaks or cattails or rabbit bush, I assumed some whimsical
botanist must have found something in the
tree that conjured images of the animal
kingdom.
The tree has always made a name for itself in my book as
one of spring���s great fanfares of color. Its creamy petals make
a splash in neighborhoods and parks and deep woods. Most
dogwoods have white flowers ��� they���re the natural trees ���
while the pink dogwoods are mutants whose roots can be
traced to 19th Century Pennsylvania. A white dogwood grows
outside my kitchen window, and I eagerly wait for it to dress
up in its springtime bridal veil.
Fayetteville bills itself the ���City of Dogwoods,��� a slogan to
which I have, in fact, given much thought. The phrase is as
inviting to me as creamy petals adrift in a gentle spring rain.
It portrays our city as a Southern Eden, abounding in natural
beauty. I know, I know, for those of you who���ve seen too much
of The Boulevard and Skibo Road, your eyes are rolling right
about now. But in truth, you don���t need to look through rosecolored glasses to view Fayetteville as a floral wonderland.
Consider a drive along the city���s Dogwood Trail. It courses
like a vine through historic neighborhoods with luxuriant
yards, many of them shaded by this authentic American tree
��� the dogwood. It���s the classic American tree, native to as
many as 40 of our states.
And it���s the classic North Carolina tree. The four petals of
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