The name for the tree originated in Europe. It had something to do with the bark being used to wash dogs. (I won't tell you why the dog needed washing. That's my little secret.)
But there is more to the Dogwood that just it's bark. Back in the day everything medicinal was from nature. Nowadays it's concocted in a laboratory using chemicals that mimic nature. I'm not sure which is better for us - but I'll take whatever works!
Before quinine the bark of the Dogwood was used to control fever. Two scruples of powdered Dogwood bark would treat colic, agues, and lots of other miseries. (A "scruple" can be compared to an "iota." My momma used to say I didn't have an iota of sense. She also said, when I asked for some kind of treat at the store and I had a fit when she said no, Momma would look at me with one of those looks and say, "I don't care one iota," so I'm guessin' a scruple can't be very much, huh?)
Some folks think the name Dogwood came from "dagwood," dag being ancient language for meat skewer. The Dogwood is exceptionally heavy, hard wood and would have been excellent as a skewer. How hard is it? Dogwood is so hard that it's been used as a wedge for splitting logs!
Dogwood is also important to the textile industry, because of it's hard, tough, resistance to abrasion: the more you wear on it the smoother it becomes without snagging threads. The shuttle-cocks used for pulling yarns back and forth to weave textiles on looms are often made of dogwood.
Dogwood is also used in making golf clubs - definitely a need for hard heads there...
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