Checked my dogwoods . The black line spalt shown on the pen in Mark`s link doesn`t seem to be as common as a smeary type . Eastern and western(Pacific) dogwoods look much the same . You should be able to find some with good chatoyance .
Ray fleck can be quite prominent on a crotch piece . Narrow leaved and red osier dogwoods don`t seem to have as much pink colouration as the other two .
As a general statement I would say that there is probably no such thing as a tree species which has only plain wood . The plainest wood from any species is probably found where the living is easiest . More figured wood is apt to come from an environment where the species can survive , but not exactly thrive .
You noted Ken`s comment about dogwoods ability to hold detail well , because of its hardness , strength and fine grain . One of the details it could hold is that of a fairly sharp edge . I have a reference book which suggests that `dog` is a corruption of `dag`, short for `dagger`, one of dogwoods older uses , probably in a back stabbing way .