62 NAT. ORDER. CAPRIFOLIACE^. 



as the Cornus jlor'ida. It is usually given in the form of strong in- 

 fusion. Of this from half to a whole wineglassful may be taken 

 three or four times a day. The dose of the powder is from twenty 

 to thirty grains. 



Almost all the species of this genus have more or less the same 

 tonic properties, and may be substituted for the Cornus florida. 

 Three of the best known, as most eflBcient, will be here mentioned. 



Comas sericea, or Blueberry Cornel, vulgarly called Swamp 

 Dogwood, or Rose Willow, is a shrub, from six to twelve feet high, 

 growing from Canada to Virginia, near swamps and streams. The 

 leaves are like those of the Cornus florida, and silky beneath ; but 

 the flowers are very different, being in large terminal cymes, without 

 involucrum ; yellowish white, and succeeded by large clusters of 

 small, round, blue berries. The bark is less bitter, more astringent, 

 and pleasant to the taste than tlie Cornus Jlor'ida. 



Cornus circinnata, or Round-leaved Cornel, often called Alder 

 Dogwood, is a shrub with warty twigs, large rounded leaves, and 

 wooly beneath. The flowers are in cymes, without involucrum. It 

 grows from Canada to Pennsylvania. Prof E. Ives, of New Haven, 

 and Dr. A. Ives of New- York, have highly extolled this variety : — 

 they say it resembles the pale Peruvian bark, CincJiona lancifolia : 

 an ounce of the bark yields by boiling 1.50 grains of an astringent 

 and intensely bitter extract. In many uses it has been found pre- 

 ferable to Colombo and Cinchona cord/folia. It is much employed 

 in the northern states, in svxbstance and otherwise, for diarrhoea, 

 dyspepsia, &c., but is considered too heating in fevers. 



Cornus alba, or Wax-berry Cornel, is also a shrub, growing 

 from New England to Siberia in Asia, with broad ovate leaves, white 

 beneath, flowers in cymes, berries round, and white like wax. The 

 Cornus canadcns'is is a small herbaceous plant, with a stem from sLx 

 to eight inches in length, and leaves very much veined. It inhabits 

 mountains, meadows and swamps ; and flowers in May and June. 



