Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)

The dogwood tree is native to the Eastern US and is prized for its spring flowery bracts. The name dogwood is disputed but most likely comes from the Celtic word dag or dagga. The wooden dagge was a useful pointed tool. The dogwood has a tight-grained hard wood that is used to make tools, weaving shuttles, and golf heads. Dogwood bark was also used to treat dogs with mange. But the bark has no real medicinal properties and the practice probably resulted from the misconception that the name dogwood meant it was good for dogs.

The Identitatum Arborum collection of knitting patterns was created in conjunction with an art installation made for the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts in summer 2016 for the Natural Threads exhibition. In that art installation I explored the idea of identity using trees as a metaphor.