DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 259 



The Dogwood Tree. Cornus. 

 Nat. Ord. Comaceae. Lin. Syst. Tetrandria, Monogynia. 



There are a number of small shrubs that belons; to this 

 genus, but the common Dogwood (Cornus jlorida) is the 

 only species which has any claims to rank as a tree. In 

 the middle states, where it abounds, as well as in most 

 other parts of the Union, the maximum height is thirty- 

 five feet, while its ordinary elevation is about twenty feet. 



The Dogwood is quite a picturesque small tree, and owes 

 its interest chiefly to the beauty of its numerous blossoms 

 and fruit. The leaves are oval, about three inches long, 

 dark green above, and paler below. In the beginning of 

 May, while the foliage is beginning to expand rapidly, and 

 before the tree is in full leaf, the flowers unfold, and 

 present a beautiful spectacle, often covering the whole tree 

 with their snowy garniture. The principal beauty of 

 these consists in the involucrum or calyx, which, instead 

 of being green, as is commonly the case, in the Dogwood 

 takes a white or pale blue tint. The true flowers may be 

 seen collected in little clusters, and are, individually, quite 

 small, though surrounded by the involucrum, which 

 produces all the effect of a fine white blossom. 



In the early part of the season, the Dogwood is one of 

 the gayest ornaments of our native woods. It is seen at 

 that time to great advantage in sailing up the Hudson 

 river. There,* in the abrupt Highlands, which rise boldly 

 many hundred feet above the level of the river, patches of 

 the Dogwood in full bloom gleam forth in snowy whiteness 

 from among the tender green of the surrounding young 

 foliage, and the gloomier shades of the dark evergreens, 



