N A l . ORDER. 



CaprifoUacecB. 



CORNUS FLORroA. COMMON DOGWOOD 



Class II'. TETRANDniA. Onkr I. Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Calijx, four-tootlietl. Petals, four, small and broad 

 Stamens, four, alternating with petals. Style, one. Stigma, 

 one. fruit, a drupe, inclosing a bilocular, two-seeded nut. 



Spe. CItar. Leaves, opposite, ovate, acuminate ; base acute, glau- 

 cous beneatb. //n"o/»c/es, coroUiform, nearly obcordate. Dnipes, 

 ovale and scarlet. 



This tree rises from iifteen to thirty feet, with a rough, l)lackish 

 bark, full of fissures ; the brunches are opposite, spreading, and are 

 spotted with a reddisli bark, where the old leaves have fallen off; 

 the leaves are opposite, petiolatc, oval, entire, base acute, end acumi- 

 nate, and pale beneath, witii strong parallel veins; the Jlowcrs are 

 termiiia!. and appear when the leaves are quite young, witli a large 

 four-leaved involucre, about tlu'ee inches broad, and which is often 

 mistaken for the blossom; white, obcordate and veined; the true 

 Jlowcrs are in tiie centre, small, crowded, sessile and yellowish ; the 

 ralijx is campanuiatc, with four obtuse teeth ; the corolla has four 

 obtuse, oblong petals ; the stamens, wliich are four in number, are 

 erect; the rt/^/Zitrs oblong ; the stijle is short and erect ; the stigma 

 \s obtuse ; {he fruit is several, oval, scarlet drupes, with a nut inside, 

 having two cells an<i two seeds. 



" The genus Cornus, or Coincl, must be divided into two sec- 

 tions: tho.se species havini; the flowers capitate, sessile, and with an 

 involucre, are the true Dogwoods (^Cijnoxijhm), and those with cv- 



Vol. iii.— .W. 



