•^ NOTE and COMMENT |^<» 



The Cornelian Cherry. — A correspondent asks for 

 the identity of a small tree which he describes as follows : 

 Small tree or shrub which in about eight years has reached 

 a height of twelve feet, branching from trunk a foot above 

 ground. Bark on trunk and main branches dark and separ- 

 ating about longitudinal gray crevices. Leaves opposite ap- 

 pearing about ten days later than the blossoms. Yellow 

 flowers in umbeliferous heads clustered on very short pedi- 

 cels at the nodes of the preceding year's twigs. About fif- 

 teen tiny florets to the head. Florets four-petaled. Calyx, 

 deciduous in four cup-like segments. At a little distance the 

 shrubby tree could be easily mistaken for a spice-bush. In 

 fact, visitors to whom I appeal for enlightenment so identify 

 it after a cursory glance. After which I lead them up for 

 closer inspection, and point out why it isn't benzoin aestivaic. 

 Another folk name for spice-bush is wild allspice and in ni}- 

 puzzle a tantalizing coincidence is that the flower heads and 

 calyx cups are very, very much like tliose of the foreign 

 plant that furnishes the familiar condiment. I should add 

 the tree blossoms at least a fortnight earlier than its neighbor- 

 ing clumps or spice bushes. [The plant described is almost 

 certainly the cornelian cherry {Cornits tnas) a dogwood na- 

 tive to southern Europe and the Orient. Although seldom 

 seen in cultivation on this side of the world, the shrub is 

 really a desirable addition to our gardens and parks, for 

 its umbels of yellow flowers thickly set along the leafless 

 branches present an attractive sight in early spring when few 



