The history of the Dogwood, why it saved the Pioneers’ teeth, and how it inspired a Christian legend.

“In the Victorian era, men would often present ladies with dogwood flowers. If she kept the flower, the lady was conveying romantic interest. Native Americans once used dogwood root to lure muskrats into traps. Long ago, barkless dogwood tree branches were used as toothbrushes. Isn’t that fascinating?”

— Scout Leader Jaggy, Fallout 76

Sometime around 1747, when George Washington was roughly 15 years old, he copied out by hand 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, presumedly as an exercise in penmanship. This coda, originally composed by French Jesuits in 1595, was first translated into English by the 12 year old son of a physician, Francis Hawkins. The set included such recommendations as:

7. Put not off your Cloths in the presence of Others, nor go out your Chamber half Drest

11. Shift not yourself in the Sight of others nor Gnaw your nails.

107. If others talk at Table be attentive but talk not with Meat in your Mouth.

Clearly good advice. While today the rules seem generally obvious, at the time decorum was expected (and taught) only in gentrified circles. Here was the centennial offering:

100. Cleanse not your teeth with the Table Cloth Napkin, Fork or Knife, but if Others do it let it be done wt. a Pick Tooth.

*Francis Hawkins, Rules of Civility. Fresh off the press.*

The notion of dental fastidiousness was surprisingly highbrow even into the 18th and 19th centuries. The standard of the day for the ‘great unwashed’ was to clean one’s teeth by rubbing them with a cloth dipped in a little salt and water. Others turned to abrasive powders. It seems just about anything would suffice: alum, ground seashells, bone, eggshells, brimstone, baking soda, and even gunpowder. Needless to say, the scarcity of adequate oral hygiene was a frequent cause of indisposition and distress.

*This toothbrush with a silver gilt handle was made for Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) of France. That’s some serious Neoclassic bling.*

As attention to oral disease escalated, dentistry as a profession began to take root (pun indeed intended). On January 2, 1772, ‘surgeon dentist’ John Baker took an ad in the Virginia Gazette “to inform the Gentry that he is now at Mr. Maupin’s, in Williamsburg, and will wait on them.” His practice was to scrape away from the teeth “that corrosive, tartarous, gritty Substance which hinders the Gums from growing, infects the Breath, and is one of the principal Causes of the Scurvy, which, if not timely prevented, eats away the Gums, so that many Peoples Teeth fall out fresh.” 250 years later, we undergo much the same as a semi annual ritual when we visit a dentist for cleaning.

*Pine twig toothbrush. Tastes like gin.*

Outside of the cities, however, good orthodontia was hard to come by. The early European colonists learned quickly from the indigenous peoples that chewing on sticks could provide a very serviceable means of tidying away mouth debris. Chewing on sticks as a method of oral hygiene has a long history, dating at least as far back as Babylonia (3500 BC). To fashion a good twig toothbrush, simply cut a green twig about the diameter of a pencil and just as long. Pound the end of the twig with a clean, smooth rock. Then chew this end for a minute to moisten and soften the bristles; and finally, brush away. Any nontoxic hardwood could do the trick; Oak and Maple were frequently used. But the most common and most favorable choice was Dogwood. According to Gunn’s Domestic Medicine, published in 1831, dogwood was superior in nearly every way to contemporary brushes, which were almost always made from hog bristles.

*Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum, Milky Way Chinese Kousa Dogwood Fruit. Like a treeful of French Burnt Peanuts.*

The Dogwood was originally a Whipple Tree in English, from the Middle Dutch wepelen (to totter or waver), a reference to its supposedly waving branches. It is now classified under the genus Cornus, a Latin derivative for ‘horn.’ My Dogwoods don’t wave and, as far as I can see, have no horns, so who knows how these epithets came to stick. The more modern common name Dogwood may refer to dags (short for daggers): an old English term for a stick used to skewer meat. Or possibly arose from the practice of using Dogwood bark to treat canine mange, which did nothing for the disease and couldn’t have helped the dog’s spirits either.

The Cornus genus comprises about 30-60 species of woody plants. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs and a few are evergreen. The various species are native throughout much of temperate and boreal Eurasia and North America, with China, Japan, and the southeastern United States being particularly rich in native species. Dogwoods were first an understory tree that thrived on the edges of hardwood forests. They tend to thrive in the semi-shady, acid soil conditions that distinguish these perimeters.

The fruits of all dogwood species are drupes, as are (you may recall) cherries, peaches, and almonds. They are usually bright and colorful, but not generally purposed for human consumption. The flowers characteristically have four petals, like the cruciferous vegetables and the Barrenwort. This has inspired the Christian legend that the petals represent the cross Jesus died upon, with each petal displaying four notches said to reflect four nail holes. In the center of each flower is a green cluster symbolic of Jesus’ crown of thorns. The wood itself is dense and fine grained which makes them perfectly suited for, in addition to toothbrushes, tool handles, walking canes, loom shuttles, and mountain dulcimers. Dogwood is also an excellent substitute for persimmon wood in the heads of golf clubs.