Cornus spp. of the family Cornaceae. Most commonly this is "flowering dogwood" (which is Cornus florida of the Family Cornaceae) but there are at least 40 members of the genus Cornus, some others of which also produce lumber.
In addition, there are at least another 40 species from two dozen genera that have dogwood as all or part of one or more of their common names, so "dogwood" is not necessarily much of a help in figuring out what species a wood is.
Fairly heavy and fine grained, it turns very nicely, and it has a very high shock resistance that makes it ideal for wooden mallets, chisle handles, and textile shuttles.
my samples:
These samples were provided by William Brooke in Beautiful Mt. Lehman, B.C. --- I have never visited Mt Lehman and so cannot say what color it truly is, but William says it is beautiful and who am I to argue? My thanks for this, and other samples that William has provided.
I note that this dogwood has the same smooth pink appearance and texture as European pearwood veneer.
plank #1, "raw" with a slight patina from age and a light coat of oil that William put on it, and then the same piece after I fine-sanded it. This piece has some spalting, as you can see, and also some rot along the crotch line where a small branch came into the trunk.
the other side of plank #1, again raw and then sanded
same piece as directly above but moistened with water (after it was sanded)
end grain of plank #1, fine-sanded
a couple of end grain closeups of plank #1 after I resanded the butt end to show the grain better --- not all that fine a sanding job, as you can see from the scratch marks, but MUCH better than it was in the pics directly above.
plank #2, also raw and then fine-sanded
the other side of plank #2, also raw then fine-sanded
both ends of plank #2, both fine-sanded
both sides of a quartersawn western dogwood sample plank with ray flakes
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- notice how on the end grain shot (not the closeup) it is very clear how the ray flakes on the face surface show up most prominently when the growth rings are directly perpendicular to that surface (meaning the rays are parallel to that surface, which is why the ray flakes show up so well) and that the flakes are much less prominent when the growth rings are at an angle to the face --- the 2nd enlargement shows this really clearly.
sample plank and end grain --- this was listed specifically as flowering dogwood / Cornus florida
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
alternate leaved dogwood (Cornus alternifolia, also listed as alternate leaved cornel) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
flowering dogwood (Cornus florida, also listed as boxwood) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
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