1010 ARBORKTL.M AND IRUTICETUM. PART 111. 



Synonymes. Comouiller, Fr. ; Hartriegel, Ger. 



Derivation. From cornu, a horn ; the wood being thought to be as hard and as durable as horn. 

 Hartriegel signifies hard rail, or hard wood. The name of Dogwood is applied to this genus, 

 because, as Parkinson says, in his Paradisus, the fruit of most of the species is not fit even for 

 dogs ; but it is more likely to have been given to it from the astringent properties of the bark and 

 leaves, a decoction of which was formerly used as a wash for curing the mange, &c., in dogs. 



Description. Deciduous trees and shrubs, natives of Europe and North 

 America ; in general very hardy, and of easy propagation and culture in British 

 gardens. Most of the species ripen their fruit in England; but they are usually 

 propagated by suckers, or by layers or cuttings. The fruit is commonly called 

 a berry, but must be botanically a pome, according to Lindley's definitions of 

 kinds of fruit, in his Introd. to Bot., ■2d ed., p. 197 — 204. Price, in the Lon- 

 don nurseries, from Is. to \s. 6(1. per plant; at Bollwyller, from 1 franc to 

 H franc ; and at New York, from 25 to 50 cents. 



§ i. NmUJIbra: Dec. 



Derivation. From nudus, naked, and/<M, a flower ; the inflorescence being without an involucre. 



Sect. Char. Flowers corymbose or panicled, without an involucre. {Dec. 

 Prod.f iv. p. 271.) 



A. Leaves alternate. 



a $ 1. C. altermfo'lia L. The alternate-leaved Dogwood. 



Identification. Lin. fiL SuppL, p. 125. ; L'H^rit. Com., No. 11. ; Don's Mill, 3. p. 308. ; Lodd. Cat., 



edit. 1S36. 

 Synonyme. C- altema MarsJi. 

 Engraeings. Guimp. Abb. Holz , t. 43. ; Schmidt Baum., 2. t. 70. ; and ourj^.760. 



Spec. Char., S^c. Leaves alternate, ovate, acute, hoary beneath. Corymbs 

 depressed, spreading. Branches warted. Pomes .,j, ^, 



purple, globose, about the size of a grain of pepper. 

 Leaves on long petioles. Branches green or red- 

 dish brown. (Don\s Alill., iii. p. .398.) A native of 

 North America, from Canada to Carolina, in shady 

 woods on river banks ; where it forms a tree, grow- 

 ing 15 ft. or 20 ft. high, and flowering from May 

 to July. It was introduced in 1760; is very hardy, 

 and is not unfrequent in British collections. At 

 Syon, and in the arboretum at Kew, it is from 12 ft. 

 to 15 ft. high. This species is easily known from 

 every other, even at a distance, by the horizontal 

 umbelliferous character assumed b} the branches, 

 which are also dichotomous, with clusters of leaves 

 at the joints ; and the general colour is that of a 

 lively green. The leaves are generally alternate, 

 but not unfrequently opposite. 



B. Leaves opposite. 



* 2. C. sangui'nea L. The b\ood-red-leaved, or common. Dogwood. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., p. 171. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 399. ; Lodd. Cat., edit 1836. 



Synonyrms. C. foe'mina Rait Syn., i&)., Ger. Emac, Hoi., with a figure; Virga sangufnca Mati/i. 

 f'ajgr., 1. p. ^2:36., with a figure. Cam. Epil., 159., with a figure ; Female Cornel, Dogberry Tree, 

 Hound Tree, Hound's-berry Tree, Prickwood, Gaten or Gatten Tree, Gater or Gatter Tree, Cat- 

 teridge Tree, wild Cornel; Cornouiller sauvage, sanguin, or femelle, Puine, or Bois punais, Fr. ; 

 rother Hartriegel, Ger. ; Sanguinello, Ital. 



Deriealion. This species is called foe'mina, and Female Cornel, because it bears fruit when very young ; 

 whereas Comus mas ; reduces male blossoms only till the tree is 15 or £0 years old. VSrga sanguinea 

 is literally the bloody twig, alluding to the colour of the shoots, though they are not nearly so 

 red as those of Cumus alba The names of Dogberry Tree, Hound Tree, &c., arise from the 

 same source as Dogwood. 'See above.} Prickwood alludes to the use of the wood for skewers ; 

 Gaten Tree is a corruption of Gatr ireow, the Saxon name for this species ; or, as some 

 suppose, it is derived from gayta, the Spanish word for a pipe, the wood of this tree being 

 more hollow, or full of pith, than that of C. m&s. Catteridge, and all the other somewhat si- 

 milar names, are derived from Gaten. Chaucer calls the fruit Gaitres berries, evidently from the 

 same origin. The French names of Pu-.ne, and Bois punais, bug wood, are from the strong and 

 unpleasant smell of the bark and leaves ; and also because a decoction of them forms a wash to 

 destroy bugs. Rother Hartriegel signifies red hard rail, or red hard wood. 



Engravings. Eng. Bot., t 249. ; Fl. Dan., t. 4.S1. ; N. Du Ham. 2. t. 44. ; and our^. 761. 



Spec. Char.,Sfc. Bracteas straight. Leaves ovate, acute, smooth and green 

 on both surfaces. Corymb.s flat. Branches of a dark red when full grown. 

 Leaves 2 to .3 in. long. Flowers greenish white, unpleasantly scented. 

 Petals revolute at the sides. Fruit dark purple, and very bitter. {Don\% 



