Thus, the dogwood tree is a small, under story tree.
The flower of the dogwood has four petals which makes the shape of a cross.
The center of the flower resembles the crown of thorns with bright red, clustered fruit in the center representing the blood of Christ.
The dogwood blooms in April when Easter Sunday marks the resurrection of Christ after the Crucifixion.
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There’s a legend, that at the time of the Crucifixion, the dogwood had been the size of the oak and other forest trees. So firm and strong was the tree that it was chosen as the timber for the cross. To be used thus for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the tree, and Jesus, nailed upon it, sensed this, and in His gentle pity for all sorrow and suffering said to it:
- “Because of your regret and pity for My suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a cross. Henceforth, it shall be slender and bent and twisted and its blossoms shall be in the form of a cross … two long and two short petals. And in the center of the outer edge of each peal there will be nail prints, brown with rust and stained with red, and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all those who see it will remember”.
According to legend the Dogwood used to be much bigger than it is today, easily dwarfing the other trees in the sparse countryside around Jerusalem. Its wood was, and still is, hard and strong enough to be favoured by wood carvers. Because of this, the Roman soldiers selected a Dogwood tree to make a cross for Jesus.
The tree was bitterly ashamed of her involvement with Jesus’ death and, when the Christ rose from the dead, she begged him not to let anyone use her in the execution of another human being again. Jesus complied with her wish, transforming her into a shrub with thin branches that would not be enough to make a gibbet. Her flowers changed too, taking on the shape of a cross. Each petal bore a rusty indentation, as if someone had taken a nail and hammer to them. The stamens in the middle grew to look like Jesus’ crown of thorns, which turn to blood-red berries in memory of Christ’s suffering.
