Planted in 1999, this tree is a certified direct descendant of a dogwood growing at Harpers Ferry, WV.
Harpers Ferry is where American abolitionist John Brown led a doomed raid on a federal armory. It was also hotly contested between Confederate and Union armies throughout the Civil War. [The last photo, by African-American photographer Augustus Washington, is a daguerreotype of abolitionist John Brown from about 1846.]
This amazing species often begins flowering when just two or three years old.
