II: Dogwood
A tree with surprising culinary possibilities.
Good morning. Today is duodi, the 2nd of Ventôse, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate le cornouiller, a shrub with beautiful blossoms and berries.
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The dogwood is a subject of recent invention in North American Christianity. Thanks to an anonymous poem from the 20th century, people believe that the cross used in the crucifixion was made of dogwood. The legend states that dogwoods used to grow tall and mighty, but after being used to crucify Jesus, the tree was either cursed to be a shrub or blessed to never have its wood be large enough for another cross. The flowers, which bloom during Lent, are said to be white tinged with red for the blood of Jesus and possessing a crown of thorns in its center. Since dogwoods do not grow natively on the Arabian peninsula, this is purely a modern Mandela effect.
All dogwood trees are spectacular, with native varietals in Europe, North America, and Asia. But I have a favorite, and it's East Asia's Kousa Dogwood, which has been naturalized across much of the United States.
