A search at allmusic indicates LEGEND OF THE DOGWOOD TREE was written by Stoney Cooper and recorded by Wilma Lee a.k.a. Wilma Lee Cooper. Three albums are listed: "The Best of the Best of Bluegrass Gospel" (a compilation) 1995; "Walking My Lord Up Calvary's Hill," 1988; and "22 All Time Gospel Hits," 2003.

BMI, however, lists 2 more songs with the same title, or possibly 2 other sets of claimants to the same song: (1) Fred Everett Sollie and Carolyn Teresa Tart; and (2) Juanita Moore.

I remember when I was a kid in St. Louis in the 1950's, someone in the family had a printed card, probably bought at the gift shop of some tourist attraction in the South, that explained the symbolism of the dogwood flower in similar terms. I doubt that the words were the same, but the general idea was. I have a hunch the legend existed in folklore before anyone turned it into a song.

My father held the dogwood in high esteem. He went to great trouble to find and dig up seedlings in the woods and plant them in our backyard, along with redbud trees. They both bloom early in the spring.

I think this is the species I remember: The flowering dogwood, Cornus florida. "Dogwood" is actually the name of a large family of woody plants, but the flowering dogwood is the only one my father took any notice of. It doesn't grow in Minnesota, where I now live.