[4] It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree, reaching 6–23 metres (20–75 feet) tall, often with a canopy spread of 6 m (20 ft).

[7] The eastern United States' Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) is similar in appearance and possibly in chemical composition.

[6] However, when Scottish botanist David Douglas encountered C. nuttalli on his expedition to the Pacific Northwest in the 1820s, he mistook it for C. florida and did not send seeds back to England.

[3] English botanist Thomas Nuttall was the first to describe the species for science while staying at Fort Vancouver in the autumn of 1834.

[3] The common names comes from that of Cornus sanguinea, the hard wood of which Northern Europeans used to make nails ("dags") during the medieval era.

[3] New sprouts are good browse for both wild and domesticated ungulates, especially after a recent fire, but the mature foliage is usually ignored by all species except slugs.

This has killed many of the larger plants in the wild and has also restricted its use as an ornamental tree, to the point where it is considered threatening to the species in its native range.

[5] It is present in all stages of both primary and secondary succession – from new colonization on glacial outwash or areas destroyed by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, to late seral and even climax communities.

After being severely burned, Cornus nuttali typically resprouts from the root crown – however, the resulting shoots are so palatable to mule deer that they are at risk of being killed by over-browsing.

Those groups also used the bark for medicinal purposes as a blood purifier, lung strengthener, stomach treatment, laxative, and emetic.