The fruits are large bean-like structures, resembling cigars. The bark is thick, with reddish-brown scales. The sapwood of dogwood is wide and creamy in color, while the heartwood is reddish brown to brown, sometimes streaked in white. The wood has a fine, uniform texture with a hard compact interlocked grain. MC Tangential 11.3 9.4 3.9 Radial 7.1 5.9 2.5 Volumetric 19.9 16.6 6.9 a Birch shrinks considerably during drying.
Dogwood can be sawn, planed and turned easily and takes a glossy finish.
Susceptible to deterioration, due to large percentage of heartwood. No information available at this time. Dry kiln schedules for commercial woods - temperate and tropical. Elias, T.S. 1980. The complete trees of North America, field guide and natural history.