342 



Minnesota Plant Life. 



twigs, sometimes slightly hairy towards the tips. The leaves 

 are broadly ovate and the fruits are white, with stones of a 

 generallv globose shape. This variety, together with the silky 

 cornel, is utilized by the Indians — under their name of kinniki- 

 nic — as an adulterant of tobacco. The inner bark of the twigs 

 is collected and dried, mixed with the tobacco and believed by 

 the Indians to improve its flavor. It should be mentioned that 

 the Indians apply the same name to other materials which they 

 use in a similar manner, as for example, sumac leaves. The name 

 of the Redwood river is said to be derived from the red osier. 



The panicled dogwood is, perhaps, the most abundant species 

 in the southern and through the central portions of the state. 

 It is, like its relatives, a branched shrub, and has smooth, gray 

 twigs. The leaves are lance-shaped, with slender tips. The 

 fruits are white in color and have slightly furrowed stones. 



All the dogwoods which have been described are character- 

 ized by opposite leaves. One other kind, the alternate-leafed 

 cornel, is not uncommon in Minnesota, except in the region 

 of the international l)oundary. As its name indicates, the leaves 

 are alternate. The fruit is of a blue color and has a channeled 

 stone. In the southern portions of its range this variety some- 

 times becomes a small tree, but in Minnesota it remains of 

 shrubby habit. The wood is heavy, close-grained and of a 

 reddish-brown color. 



Most of these varieties of dogwood grow best in damp woods 

 or thickets and along the shores of lakes. The dwarf cornel, 

 however, is by preference an inhabitant of tamarack swamps, 

 where it is found along with wintergreens and lady's-slippers. 

 It is abundant, too, in the pine woods, particularly in shaded 

 places. The dogwoods are exceedingly l)eautiful shrul)s when 

 disposed along broad lake beaches, where they select the back- 

 strand or mid-strand and often form handsome hemispherical 

 plant-bodies ten feet or more in height and fifteen feet in 

 breadth, growing regularly and looking as if they had been 

 trinmied by some careful gardener. Together with certain va- 

 rieties of willows which have the same habit of growth, they are 

 among the most noticeable i)lants of le\-cl lake shores, especially 

 in the northern part of the stale. They abound, too, around 

 meadows and in the edges of woods or along streams. 



