Definition of "dogwood" [dog•wood]

• A tree (Cornus florida) of eastern North America, having small greenish flowers surrounded by four large, showy white or pink bracts that resemble petals. (noun)
• Any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Cornus. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In fact, the dogwood is a poignant reminder of the hundred-year gap between the first and second incarnations of this garden."
• "The man sitting alone in the shade of a small dogwood is equally unaware."
• "Our dogwood is filled with white blossoms though, and I know the geese will be laying eggs."