Dogwood Male, Or Common.

Shrub or tree of the dogwood family, 2-9 m high. The trunk is covered with gray bark. The leaves are opposite, ovate or lanceolate with a short petiole.

It blooms in March - April, before the leaves bloom. The flowers are yellow, small, collected in an inflorescence.

Ripens in August-September.

Male dogwood is common in the European part of Russia and the Caucasus. Grows in light oak forests, on the edges and slopes of mountains.

Recovers well after cutting. Used as a soil-protective plant and for hedges. The wood rivals boxwood in beauty and is used for veneering furniture.

Berries are a valuable food product. They are consumed fresh and dried, prepared for future use in the form of juices and compotes, cooked into jelly and jam, made into pastilles, jellies and sauces, used as a substitute for tea and coffee, and added to baked goods.

The bark is used for tanning leather and dyeing wool and silk fabrics yellow, olive or black-brown, depending on the mordant.

Medicinal raw materials are fruits, leaves and bark. The fruits are harvested when ripe. They require careful transportation, as they stick together easily and quickly deteriorate.

Before drying, they must be dried well, scattered in a thin layer on a soft mat, carefully and often turning over. Dry in the sun or in a dryer at a temperature of 50-60°C.

The leaves are collected after the plants have flowered. Dry in the shade, laying out a layer of 3-5 cm and periodically turning over. The bark is harvested from trees that are to be cut down. Dry in a dryer or in the sun. Store in a box or wooden container for 2 years.

The bark contains organic acids and tannins. Iridoids, phenolcarboxylic acids, vitamin C, tannins, flavonoids and proanthocyanidins are found in the leaves.

The fruits contain carbohydrates, pectins, organic acids (malic, tartaric and glyoxalic), carotenoids, vitamin C, phenol carbonic acids (gallic and salicylic), tannins, catechins and anthocyanins (delphinidin, peonidin, salvidin, etc.).

Dogwood preparations have antiscorbutic, antidiabetic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, fixative, restorative, choleretic and diuretic effects.

Indicated for inflammatory diseases of the liver and kidneys. Sometimes they are used as a general tonic and stimulant. The leaves have choleretic, diuretic and hypoglycemic effects.

The fruits are used dried and fresh for anemia, inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, vitamin deficiency, measles, influenza, scarlet fever, rickets and sore throat; they have an astringent effect for diarrhea.