Alternate-Leaved Dogwood
Growth Habit
TreeBiocultural Value
Pagoda dogwood - typically the inner bark - had a wide variety of medicinal application among Native Americans, including as a cough remedy, analgesic, dermatological aid, worm medicine, and eye wash. The Ojibwa and Menominee prepared the bark as a tobacco. Several groups also carved the wood into loom shuttles, awl handles, mauls, and clubs.
Wildlife Value
Pagoda dogwood's nectar- and pollen-producing flowers attract a range of long- and short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, and buttterflies. Several moth and butterfly caterpillars, long-horned beetles, leaf beetles, plant bugs, aphids and other insects feeed on the foliage. The berries are eaten by mice, chipmunks, and birds. White-tailed deer and cotontail rabbits feed on the leaves and twigs. Beavers will gnaw the bark of trees growing near their ponds.
