144 Bulletin 145 



has the general appearance of a small shrub. It has lithe 

 branches and long slender leaves, giving it a willow-like aspect. 

 It chooses a similar habitat in the borders of swamps, or with 

 its roots buried in a sphagnum bog. A glance at its opposite 

 leaves serves, however, to differentiate it from the alter- 

 nate-leaved willow twig, and its beautiful magenta blossoms add 

 a glory to many a swamp in August. These have an added in- 

 terest because of their three forms, which show remarkable 

 adaptation to cross fertilization by insects. It is one of the most 

 attractive plants for ornamental planting along streams or sim- 

 ilar wet places. 



DOGWOOD FAMILY. CORNACEAE 



The name dogwood is misapplied to other shrubs in Ver- 

 mont^, which is the more unfortunate since there are seven na- 

 tive species of true dogwoods, including some of our commonest 

 and handsomest shrubs. These are all characterized by having 

 white or greenish-white four-parted flowers, which are indi- 

 vidually rather small but are collected in conspicuous clusters. 

 The fruit follows also in showy clusters of berries, the color and 

 size varying with the species. The dogwoods bear a general 

 resemblance to the arrowwoods or viburnums, described later 

 in this pamphlet, from which the fruit will most readily serve to 

 distinguish them. The stone of the viburnum berries is much 

 flattened, one-celled and one-seeded ; that of the dogwoods is 

 oval, two-celled and two-seeded. It is also helpful to re- 

 member that all the dogwoods have entire leaf margins. 



The several native species of dogwood are recognizable as 

 follows : 



^ The striped maple is often called striped dogwood; the poison 

 sumach is also known as poison dogwood. 



