What Legends Are Associated With Dogwood?

The dogwood is a beautiful flower. Its petals are called bracts because, technically, they are not petals. The true flower of the dogwood is the cluster of tiny yellow blossoms gracefully surrounded by white or pink bracts. These bracts are notched with rust-coloured touches at the tip. This rusty touch has given rise to a legend.
According to that legend, Jesus Christ was impaled on a dogwood tree. Because of his compassion for the dogwood and so that it would no longer be used as an instrument of impalement, Jesus decreed that it should become a smaller tree and that its petals should bear the marks of the nail prints in his hands. This, says tradition, resulted in the rust-coloured touches around the notches in the bracts. So prominent has this legend become that it is the only thing many people think of when they see the dogwood today. But remember, this is only fictitious tradition. The Bible says nothing of the sort.