dogwood

[Lee Lobbestael]

Hey guys I heard that the indians around Michigan used dogwood for arrow shafts. I would like to find some but I don't know what it looks like. Any help on this subject would be appreciated!

[Osagetree]

Wait till spring and look for small trees that are sprouting white or red flowers. Tear drop leaves kinda shiney on the top.

I've heard when the dogwood flowers are bloom'n as big as a squrills ears the tom turkeys will be gobblin'

Hard to find'em thin enough and straight enough though,,, you may get lucky! Gather ten or twelve and bundle them together with some kite string until dried well. Use dry heat to straighten and be prepared to do alot of it.

[Pat B]

The dogwood you are looking for is red osier(Cornus sericea). Google it and you should get lots of info and pics. Your state Ag Dept should have info also. Red osier likes wet areas, it is a multi-stemmed shrub with red stems on younger shoots. They gray our as they age. I know a guy in the UP that found lots of it up there. Gray dogwood(C. racemosa) might also be an option.

[Osagetree]

Is this what Lee is after?

 

[Pat B]

That looks like the stuff. Only cut stems with small branches on them and don't cut ones that don't have any branches at all.

[Shaun]

There is also a dogwood called "Grey Dogwood" or Cornus racemosa which grows in wet areas and roadside ditches. It forms dense colonies with sucker sprouts. Good shaft material - you will see lots of it once it is pointed out to you.

[li'ljohn]

Originally posted by Pat B:
 Only cut stems with small branches on them and don't cut ones that don't have any branches at all.

That's interesting. just curious, but Why not?

Thanks
li'ljohn

[Lee Lobbestael]

Thanks guys! What does Grey Dogwood look like?

[Pat B]

When shoots sprout they usually grow to their ultimate height the first growth year. This first year they have leaves along their stem. The second year the small branches grow where last years leaves were. After the second season the shoot has two growth rings and these stiffen up the shoot. The single growth ring of the year old shoot will make an arrow but it will be flimsy, physically light and hard to keep straight, so not so good for arrows.
   Cane shafts are the same. First year growth is flimsy but after the second year the cane walls have thickened(matured) and the cane is then appropriate for arrows.

[Shaun]

Grey dogwood is most easily found by looking for the colony formation of shoots. Around me the colony plants in roadside ditches are wild plumb, grey dogwood, sumac and sometimes sassafras. You can do a search for it but most of the pics are of summer leaves or spring flower bunches. This time of year look for a thicket of a couple hundred short (less than 4 feet) bushes. The clumps will be higher in the middle with branched bushes and toward the edges will be shorter often unbranched stems.

[Brently]

Do you know how to tell dogwood from other wood?  By it's bark.....I couldn't resist!