CORNACEAE 111 



2. C. sericea, L, Branches purplish ; leaves elliptic-ovate, fer- 

 ruginous-silky beneath ; drupes bright palish blue. 



SILKY CORNUS. Red-rod. Swamp Dogwood. 



Stems 6 to 10 feet high, slender ; young branches and petioles lanuginous. Leaves 

 2 to 5 inches long ; petioles half an inch to an inch in length. Cymes woolly- 

 pubescent; flowers yellowish-white. Drupes often roundish-obovoid. 

 Hob. Margins of streams, and swamps : frequent. Fl. June. Fr. Octo. 



3. C. pail it'll lilt a, L'Herit. Branches grey, erect; leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, glaucous beneath ; cymes paniculate ; drupes white. 

 PANICLED CORNUS. White Dog-wood. 



Stern 4 to 6 or 8 feet high ; branches slender, smooth. Leaves 2 to 3 inches long ; 

 petioles % ^ half an inch in length. Flowers white, in thyrsoid panicles, which 

 elongate in fruit. Drupes depressed-globose, white, with a leaden tinge when ma- 

 ture. 

 Hob. Thickets, and fence-rows : not common. Fl. June. Fr. Octo. 



f f Flowers in capitate clusters, with a Cleaved involucre ; fruit oval. 



4. C. florida, L. Arborescent; leaves ovate, pubescent when 

 young; leaves of the involucre retuse or obcordate; drupes red. 

 FLOWERING CORNUS. Common Dogwood. 



Stem 15 to 20 (sometimes 30 to 40) feet high ; the young branches often verticil- 

 late in fours. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long, becoming crimson in autumn ; petioles 

 about %"an inch in length. Involucre about 3 inches in diameter, when expanded, 

 the leaves in opposite pairs, sessile, white and petal-like, sometimes tinged with 

 purple. Flowers greenish-yellow. 

 Hob. Woodlands : very common. Fl. May. Fr. Septem. 



Obs. The wood of this small tree is very close-grained and firm, 

 and valuable for many purposes in mechanics. Cabinet-makers 

 sometimes employ it, in the manufacture of small articles of furni- 

 ture, in which, my friend Dr. ELWYN assures me, it is very beauti- 

 ful. The woodman selects it as the best material for wooden wedges. 

 The young straight stems make good hoops, for the cooper; and the 

 slender verticillate branches once furnished distaffs for Spinsters, in 

 the "good old times," when that description of females had a prac- 

 tical existence in the community. The bark is an excellent tonic, 

 almost rivaling the Cinchona, in efficacy. A century since, accord- 

 ing to KALM, there was so much faith in the virtues of the Dogwood, 

 that "when the cattle fall down in spring, for want of strength, the 

 people tie a branch of this tree on their neck, thinking it will help 

 them !" Altogether and without any joke it is a valuable as well 

 as ornamental little tree, worthy of a place in lawns and yards. 

 Observing farmers have remarked, that the proper time to plant 

 Indian Corn (Zea Mays, L.) is when the involucres of the Dogwood 

 are first developed. 



