256 THE CORNEL. 



rising a little above our loose stone-walls. This seems to 

 be the most abundant species outside of the woods in 

 ,the vicinity of Boston. Its flowers are white and rather 

 inconspicuous, and are succeeded by clusters of pearly 

 white berries. The blue-fruited Cornel, or red osier, 

 is remarkable for its colored branches and large round 

 leaves with an acuminate termination. The blue fruit 

 of this species is very ornamental, and it is distinguished 

 after the fall of the leaf by its bright red stems and 

 branches. The Cornel is hardly less important than the 

 viburnum in adding variety to our wood-scenery at all 



By far the most interesting and beautiful species of the 

 genus is the Florida Cornel, so called from its abun- 

 dance in the forests on the American side of the Gulf 

 of Mexico. In all that region, the woods in May are 

 white with its large conspicuous flowers, sometimes oc- 

 cupying tracts of many acres exclusively, covering them 

 with an almost unvaried whiteness, before the leaves of 

 the trees are put forth. The flowers are borne in semi- 

 globular heads, enclosed in a large spreading involucre, 

 which is often mistaken for the corolla, the florets within 

 resembling superficially a collection of stamens. About 

 the first of June, in New England, these trees are very 

 attractive, seeming like masses of pure white inflores- 

 cence. In the North it does not constitute the principal 

 growth of any wood ; but it is admired by all when they 

 see it scattered among the greenery, and admired the 

 more from its infrequency in this region. 



The small branches are greenish, striated with longitu- 

 dinal and irregular white lines. The leaves are two or 

 three inches long, oval, and of middle size. The flowers 

 appear on the ends of the branches, included in an in- 

 volucre consisting of four divisions. The head of flo- 

 rets thus enclosed ripens into a bunch of bright scarlet 



