S98 



CORNEJE. I. CORNUS. 



Cult. All the varieties of this shrub are very handsome while 

 in flower and leaf, and are therefore proper for shrubberies. A 

 peat or vegetable soil answers them best ; and they may either be 

 increased by layers put down in spring or autumn, or by seed, 

 which is annually received from America. 



ORDER CXXVI. CO'RNE^E (this order contains plants agree- 

 ing with Cornus in important characters). D. C. prod. 4. p. 271. 

 Caprifoliacese Cornese, Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 430. 

 Genera of Caprifoliaceae, Juss. 



Calyx having the tube adnate to the ovarium ; and the 

 limb superior and 4-lobed (f. 71. c.). Petals 4, oblong, broad 

 at the base, inserted in the upper part of the tube of the 

 calyx, regular, valvate in aestivation. Stamens 4, inserted with 

 the petals, and alternating with them ; anthers ovate-oblong, 2- 

 celled. Style filiform ; stigma simple. Drupe baccate, crowned 

 by the vestiges of the calyx, containing a 2-celled nucleus. Seed 

 pendulous, solitary in the cells. Albumen fleshy. Embryo with 

 a superior radicle, which is shorter than the two oblong cotyle- 

 dons. Trees and shrubs, rarely herbs. Leaves of all opposite, 

 except in one species of the genus Cornus, entire or toothed, 

 feather-nerved. Flowers capifete, umbellate or corymbose, 

 naked or involucrated, rarely dioecious from abortion. Flesh of 

 pulp of fruit edible. 



This order agrees with Hamamelideee, and Caprifoliacece, tribe 

 Sambucece ; but differs from the first in the aestivation of the 

 petals being truly valvate ; in the stamens not being double the 

 number of the petals ; in the style being simple, not double ; in 

 the fruit being drupaceous, not capsular ; and in the albumen 

 being fleshy, not horny, &c. From Sambucece it differs in the 

 corolla being polypetalous, not gamopetalous ; in the parts of the 

 flower being quaternary, not quinary ; in the style being ex- 

 serted, not wanting ; in the stigmas being 2, not 3, and in the 

 fruit being drupaceous, not baccate, &c. Cornece differs from 

 Loranthacece in the stamens alternating with the petals, not op- 

 posite them. 



All the genera of this order have more or less astringent bark ; 

 that of Cornus florida is used in North America in intermittent 

 fevers, as is also that of Cornus sericea, which, according to Bar- 

 ton, is scarcely inferior to quinquina. 



Synopsis of the genera. 



1 COIINUS. Limb of calyx 4-toothed (f. 71. c.). Drupe 

 baccate, marked by the vestiges of the calyx, containing a 2-cell- 

 ed, rarely 3-celled nucleus. 



2 VOTOMI'TA. Tube of calyx turbinate ; limb 4-toothed. 

 Anthers approximating into a tube, and terminated by a thin 

 membrane. Stigmas 4, oblong. Drupe crowned by the calyx, 

 1 -celled. 



3 MASTIXIA. Limb of calyx 4-5-toothed. Stamens 4-5 ; 

 anthers didymous. Style short, girded by a disk ; stigma ob- 

 tuse. Drupe umbilicate, containing a 1 -seeded nucleus. 



4 POLYOSMA. Limb of calyx 4-toothed. Petals sometimes 

 joined at the base. Anthers 2-celled. Stigma truncate. Drupe 

 containing a 1-seeded nucleus. 



I. CO'RNUS (from cornu, a horn ; the wood being thought 

 to be as hard and as durable as horn. Its value as a material 

 for warlike instruments has been celebrated by Virgil. Bona 

 bello cornus). Tourn. inst. 641. t. 410. Lin.gen.no. 149. Gaertn. 

 fruct. t. 26. D. C. prod. 4. p. 271. 



LIN. SYST. Tetrdndria, Monogynia. Tube of calyx adher- 

 ing to the ovarium ; limb small, 4-toothed (f. 71. c.). Petals 

 4, oblong, sessile ; valvate in aestivation. Stamens 4. Style 

 1. Drupe baccate, marked by the vestiges of the calyx, 

 containing a 2-celled, rarely 3-celled nucleus. Seed solitary, 

 pendulous. Albumen fleshy. Radicle of embryo shorter than 

 the cotyledons. Trees and shrubs, sometimes low herbs. 

 Leaves all opposite, except in the first species, entire, feather- 

 nerved. Flowers sometimes capitate and umbellate, involu- 

 crated ; sometimes corymbose and panicled, without involucra. 

 Petals white, rarely yellow. 



1 . Nudiflorce (from nudus, naked, and flos, a flower ; in 

 allusion to the flowers being exinvolucrate). D. C. prod. 4. p. 

 271. Flowers corymbose or panicled, exinvolucrale. 



* Leaves alternate. 



1 C. ALTERNIFOLIA (Lin. fil. suppl. p. 125.) leaves alternate, 

 ovate, acute, hoary beneath ; corymbs depressed, spreading ; 

 branches warted. Ij . H. Native of North America, from 

 Canada to Carolina, in shady woods on river banks. Lher. corn, 

 no. 11. Guimp. abb. holz. t. 43. Schmidt, arb. 2. t. 70. C. 

 alterna, Marsh. Berries purple, globose, about the size of a 

 grain of pepper. Leaves on long petioles. Branches green or 

 reddish-brown. 



Alternate-leaved Dogwood. Fl. May, July. Clt. 1760. Tree 

 15 to 20 feet. 



* * Leaves opposite. 



2 C. PANICULA'TA (Lher. corn. no. 10. t. 5.) branches erect; 

 leaves o^ite, acuminated, glabrous, hoary beneath ; corymbs 

 thyrsoid ; ovarium silky. J? . H. Native of North America, 

 from Canada to Carolina, rare, in swamps and near rivulets 

 among other bushes. Schmidt, arb. 2. t. 68. C. racemosa, 

 Lam. diet. 2. p. 116. C. femina, Mill. diet. no. 4. C. citrifolia, 

 Hort. par. Branches pale-purplish. Berries roundish, depres- 

 sed, watery, white, 3 lines in diameter. The dots on the under 

 side of the leaves, which are only seen through a lens, bear 

 bicuspidate short adpressed hairs. Tube of calyx pubescent. 



Far. ft, dlbida (Ehrh. beitr. 4. p. 16.) leaves elliptic-lanceo- 

 late. 



Var. y, radidta (Pursh. fl. amer. sept. 1. p. 109.) racemes 

 sterile, foliiferous. 



Panic led- flowered Dogwood. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1758. 

 Shrub 4 to 6 feet. 



3 C. TOLUCCE'NSIS (H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 

 430.) branches dichotomous, spreading ; leaves ovate-oblong, 

 narrowly acuminated, puberulous on both surfaces, paler be- 

 neath ; cymes lateral, naked. Jj . H. Native of Mexico, on 

 the higher plains about the city of Tolucca. Very like C, pani- 

 culala. Compare Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 5. p. 171. 

 in which place there is a species described which was found 

 about Jalapa, and which is probably referrible to the present 

 plant. 



Tolucca Dogwood. Tree or shrub. 



4 C. OBLONGA (Wall, in Roxb. fl. ind. 1. p. 432.) leaves ob- 

 long, acuminated, acute at the base, glaucous and rather scabrous 

 beneath, with many excavated glands along the axils of the ribs 

 and nerves ; corymbs spreading, panicled. Jj. H. Native of 

 Nipaul, about Narainhetty, Katmandu, and the valley of Dhoon. 

 C. paniculate, Hamilt. ex D. Don, prod. fl. nep. p. 140. Young 

 shoots clothed with short adpressed hair. Leaves 4-6 inches 



