Lushootseed name: kʷədabidac (qud-ah-da-be-dotz)

Location: This tree is tucked into the growth on the side of Rainier Vista North of Stevens Way and blends with the mass of other foliage from a distance except in spring, when its brilliant white floral display makes it stand out spectacularly.

Historical Background: The common name “dogwood” is theorized to have come from its inedible nature to dogs. The Nlaka’pamux, a First Nations group in British Columbia with traditional territories in the Northern Cascades of Washington strip and boil the bark to make a brown dye. Wood was also used for making piano parts and thread spindles, but has been prohibited in British Columbia. 

Pacific Northwest Native

Native Range: Western North America

Identifying Features light: Pacific Dogwoods grow shorter than their coniferous associates into a generally dense rounded crown.  Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this tree are its large white flowers which appear in spring and which are actually not flowering bodies but specialized leaves known as bracts. The true flowers are located in the center of these 4-7 bracts, and are a greenish yellow 4 petaled body clustered together with others. The leaves are opposite and elliptical shiny green and distinguished by distinctive curved veins which run parallel to the edge of the leaf.

Identifying Features In Depth:

1. Form: Small tree up to 50 feet high and at most around a foot in diameter at the base. Crown is conic and open, with branches generally horizontal.

2. Leaves: Opposite, about 6-11cm in length and 3-7cm wide, shiny green and almost hairless on top with pale wooly hairs beneath. Bracts are creamy opening in early May, 4-7 arranged around the flowers.

3. Bark: Reddish brown to gray and smooth, thin to scaly.

4. Reproductive Bodies: 6mm wide and crowded with 4 greenish yellow petals in the center of the bracts give way to elliptical red/orange fruit 12mm long with a thin bitter pulp and 1-2 seeds crowded together in the head in most cases. Fruit matures in autumn.