Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
Cornus florida
Western Herbalism
Western Herbalism

Flowering dogwood

Cornus florida

Also known as Dogwood, Flowering cornel, Boxwood, Cornus.

CoolingDryingTaste: BitterTaste: Astringent

Flowering dogwood is a small North American tree of the Cornaceae, familiar for its showy white or pink bracted spring flowers and scarlet autumn drupes. The bark of the stem and root was the part used by nineteenth century American physiomedical and eclectic practitioners, who valued it as a home grown bitter tonic when imported Peruvian bark (cinchona) was scarce or too costly. It has no established place in modern conventional herbal practice and today is used, if at all, as a historical curiosity within the eclectic materia medica.

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Actions

Bitter tonicAstringentAntiperiodicMild febrifugeStomachicDigestive stimulantMild antidiarrheal

Indications what the tradition reached for it in

Specific indications

Low, remittent fever with debility and a pale, relaxed tongue, where a bitter tonic is wanted rather than a strong stimulant

Convalescent weakness with poor appetite and slow digestion following a febrile illness

Safety

Pregnancy: Avoid in pregnancy: no modern safety data exist and the herb is not formally rated by any safety authority.

Breastfeeding: Avoid in lactation: no modern safety data exist and the herb is not formally rated by any safety authority.

The record lists 3 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.

In practice

Eclectic and physiomedical writers reached for dogwood bark as a substitute for cinchona in low, remittent fevers with debility, particularly where the patient was pale, relaxed in tissue tone, and slow to recover appetite. It was given as a decoction or as a bitter tincture, often alongside other tonics such as wild cherry bark or poplar bark, and was thought to support digestion and general recovery during convalescence rather than to break a high fever outright. Because the plant has essentially no modern pharmacological or clinical evidence base, it is reasonable to view it as a minor historical tonic rather than a first line remedy. Practitioners working from period texts should be aware that dosing and preparation details vary considerably between sources, and that safety data are sparse to nonexistent.

Dosing as the sources wrote it

PreparationAs writtenMetric
Decoction2-4 g dried bark daily, simmered gently2000-4000 mg
Tincture (1:5, 45%)1-2 mL three times daily1-2 mL
Dose of the powdered bark, twenty to thirty grains, three or four times a day1296-1944 mg
Dose five to ten grains every three or four hours324-648 mg
Dose two to ten grains every four or three hours130-648 mg
Dose, from a half to two drams.1944-7776 mg

Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.

From the sources

Overview. Flowering dogwood is a small North American tree of the Cornaceae, familiar for its showy white or pink bracted spring flowers and scarlet autumn drupes. The bark of the stem and root was the part used by nineteenth century American physiomedical and eclectic practitioners, who valued it as a home grown bitter tonic when imported Peruvian bark (cinchona) was scarce or too costly. It has no established place in modern conventional herbal practice and today is used, if at all, as a historical curiosity within the eclectic materia medica.

Clinical Notes. Eclectic and physiomedical writers reached for dogwood bark as a substitute for cinchona in low, remittent fevers with debility, particularly where the patient was pale, relaxed in tissue tone, and slow to recover appetite.

Action and Therapy. Cornus is tonic and feebly antiperiodic. In times of scarcity it has been used in lieu of cinchona, or when cinchona or quinine is not tolerated. Its tonic properties may be utilized after fevers, particularly of the periodic type; and it is said to be useful in headache from quinine, pyrosis, and general exhaustion. It is adapted to cases with feeble, relaxed tissues, with weak pulse and sub-normal temperature. It has been suggested as useful in gastric ulcer. The preferred doses are from 5 to 20 drops.

Therapy. This agent is indicated not only to correct the atonic conditions of the glandular structure of the gastro-intestinal apparatus in malaria, but as an antidote to the malarial poison itself. It has marked control over many of the manifestations of malaria. Its influence upon the stomach in these cases increases the appetite at once, improves the character of the digestion and relieves the drowsiness and dullness apt to follow imperfect digestion. It is a tonic in enfeebled conditions of the stomach from whatever cause and improves intestinal digestion.

Drawn from Cook's Physio-Medical Dispensatory; King's American Dispensatory, 18th edition (Felter and Lloyd); Ellingwood's American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy; Felter's Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the Bountiful Herbs editorial.

In formulas

Flowering dogwood stands in 9 documented formulas in the library, among them Muscle Spasm & Cramp Formula, shêng xiàn tâng, shi b wán.

Often paired with

Shan Zhu YuCornus officinalisMilk Vetch RootAstragalus membranaceusGinsengPanax ginsengLicorice rootGlycyrrhiza glabraWu Wei ZiSchisandra chinensisRehmanniaRehmannia glutinosa

Nearby on the shelf

Flatstem milkvetch seedPhyllolobium chinenseFlaxLinum usitatissimumFlesh-colored asclepiasAsclepias IncarnataFlorentine orrisIris FlorentinaFlowering quinceChaenomeles speciosaFlowering SpurgeEuphorbia corollataFo-TiPolygonum multiflorumFortune's eupatoriumEupatorium fortunei

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