Personal Bio:

Faculty Bio: Martina Dalton-Quinn was a deeply dedicated early childhood educator who served as a cornerstone of the Lower School faculty at Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island, for 33 years. An alumna of Classical High School and the University of Rhode Island, she devoted her professional career to foundational education, establishing a nurturing, creative, and highly impactful classroom environment for generations of kindergarten students. Renowned for her instructional expertise and commitment to child development, she was equally celebrated within the school community for her artistic talents, often designing personalized collage cards for colleagues and families. Outside of her classroom, she was an avid reader, an accomplished cook, and drew great inspiration from spending time along the Rhode Island coast with her husband of 23 years, John Quinn. Following a courageous four-year battle with cancer, Mrs. Dalton-Quinn passed away in May 2008 at her home in Wakefield, leaving behind an enduring legacy of warmth, academic dedication, and profound service to the Moses Brown community.

Flowering Dogwood:

Scientific Name

Cornus florida

Family

Cornaceae

Description

Flowering dogwood is a woody, deciduous, showy understory tree in the dogwood family (Cornaceae), native from southeastern Canada through eastern North America to eastern Mexico, commonly found growing in woodland margins. It is the state flower of North Carolina.

Leaves are opposite, simple, oval to ovate, 2.5 to 6 inches long, dull green above and glaucous beneath, with entire margins and 6 or 7 arching vein pairs that curve toward the leaf tip. Fall color is a striking red to reddish-purple.

Bark is attractive, dark gray to brown or black, broken into small scaly blocks as the tree matures.

Stems are slender, green to purple, sometimes coated with fine powder; bark broken into small squarish and rectangular grayish-brown to blackish blocks on older growth.

Flowers bloom in early spring before leaf-out (March–May). What appear to be petals are actually four white (or occasionally pink) petal-like bracts, each 2 inches long and notched at the ends, surrounding the true cluster of small, green, inconspicuous flowers at the center.

Fruits are glossy, bright red oval drupes about 0.5 inches long in tight clusters of 3 or 4, displaying from August to October. Bitter and inedible to humans but highly valued by birds and wildlife.

Other Common Names

Flowering Dogwood

Size

Height: 15 ft. 0 in. – 25 ft. 0 in.

Width: 15 ft. 0 in. – 30 ft. 0 in.

Source: North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox