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the ovary is inferior with two cells and the summit bears a fleshy 

 yellow disc, surrounding the base of the pistil. The fruit is an 

 ovoid drupe, bright scarlet when ripe, usually five to six in a 

 cluster. They are eagerly eaten by birds in the autumn, and 

 in this way the seeds are widely disseminated. The leaves are 

 opposite, borne in pairs on lateral branchlets, with short petioles; 

 they are ovate or oval, acute with a strong mid-vein and con- 

 spicuous lateral veins and quite entire. They are minutely 

 hairy on the upper surface when young and pubescent particu- 

 larly on the veins, beneath. The wood is fine-grained and is 

 sometimes used as a substitute for box-wood. 



The dogwood ranges from Maine to Florida, and in the Central 

 States from Ontario to Texas, ascending the mountains of Virginia 

 and in the Sierra Madre in Mexico. It was named by Linnaeus 

 in 1753 rom plants collected in Virginia and Carolina and was 

 described by Plukenet in 1691 in his Phytographia probably 

 from plants collected in Virginia by John Bannister. It has 

 been in cultivation in England since 1730 and is greatly prized 

 not only for its showy white masses of blossom in spring, but 

 for the brilliant color of its foliage and fruit in the autumn. 

 The rose-colored form was figured by Marc Catesby in 1771, 

 and is highly esteemed in cultivation, occurring sparingly wild. 



Elizabeth G. Britton. 



