Genus CORNUS, Linn. 



Cornacese. Tetrandria Monogynia. 



Syst. Nat. Syst. Lin. 



Synonymes 



Cornus, Of Authors. 



Cornouiller, France. 



Hartriegel, Hornstrauch, Kornel-Kirsch- | ^ 

 baum^ j Germany. 



Corniolo, Corgnolo, Italy. 



Cornizo, Spain. 



Dogwood, Cornelian Cherry-tree, Britain and Anglo- America. 



derivations. The word Cornus is derived from the Latin cornu, a horn ; the wood of some of the trees of this genus being 

 thought to be as hard and as durable as horn. The French, Spanish, and Italian names have the same meaning as the botanic 

 one. The German name Hartriegel signifies hard rail, or hard wood ; Hornstrauch, means Horn-bush ; and the other German 

 name signifies Cornelian Cherry-tree. The name Dogicood is applied to this genus, because, as Parlcinson says in his " Para- 

 disus," the fruit of most of tlie species is not fit even for dogs; but it is more likely to have been given to it, from the astringent 

 properties of the bark and leaves, a decoction of which was formerly used as a wash for curing the mange, &c., in dogs. 



Generic Characters. Tube of the calyx adhering to the ovarium. Limb small, 4-toothed. Petals 4, 

 oblong, sessile ; valvate in aestivation. Stamens 4. Style 1. Pome baccate, marked by the vestiges 

 of the calyx, containing a 2-celled, rarely 3-celled, nut. Seed solitary, pendulous. Albumen fleshy. 

 Radicle of embryo shorter than the cotyledons. Don, Miller's Diet. 



,HE genus Cornus consists of deciduous trees and shrubs, all with 

 opposite leaves, (except those of the Cornus alternifolia,) entire 

 and feather-nerved. The flowers are sometimes capitate and 

 umbellate, involucrated ; sometimes corymbose and panicled, with- 

 out an involucre, with petals white, and rarely yellow. They are 

 in general very hardy, and may be easily propagated from seeds, 

 suckers, or by cuttings and layers. Beside the Cornus florida, hereafter 

 described, the following species and varieties are well worth the attention of 

 amateurs, as being particularly suitable for small suburban gardens, in which 

 several of them will form fit associates for small trees of Crataegus, Berberis, 

 Rhamnus, Euronymus, Hamamelis, &c. : 



1. CoTHiis alternifolia. Alternate-leaved Dogwood ; a native of North Amer- 

 ica, from Canada to Carolina, in shady woods on river banks, where it forms a 

 tree, fifteen or twenty feet in height, and flowers from May to July. This sp( 

 cies is known from every other, by the horizontal umbelliferous character assumed 

 by the branches, which are also dichotomous, with clusters of leaves at the joints ; 

 and the general colotn* is that of a lively green. The fruit, when ripe, is purple, 

 and about the size of a grain of pepper. 



2. Cornus purpurea. Purple-fruited Dogwood; Coimns sanguinea, of Lin- 

 naeus, Don, Loudon, and others; Cornoniller femelle., Cornouiller salvage, Bois 

 de chien, Bois satiguin, Savig?w7i, Pidne noire., or Bois punais, of the French ; 

 Rother Hartriegel., of the Germans ; Saiiguinella^ of the Italians ; Female Cor- 

 nel., Wild Cornel, Dogberry-tree, Hound-tree, Prickwood, Gatten-tree, Gatter-trce, 

 and Catteridge-tree, of the British and Anglo-Americans. This species is indi- 

 genous to Northern Africa, and is plentiful in hedges and thickets, especially on 

 chalk and limestone soils, in most of the temperate parts of Europe. It has been 

 introduced into the United States, and is found wild in New York, New Jersey, 

 Pennsylvania, and other parts of the country. There is also a variety of this 

 species, described by Don and Loudon, under the name of Cornus sanguinea 

 purshii, indigenous in New York, from Long Island to the lakes, which only 



