FLOWERING DOGWOOD (Cornus Florida, Linn.). 15 to 40 

 feet. Small, flat-topped, bushy, irregular tree, with angular, 

 spreading twigs, set with conical, flattened flower buds, en- 

 closed in four leathery protecting scales. Bark gray or brown, 

 checked by deep furrows into small, irregular plates, like 

 alligator skin. Wood fine-grained, hard, heavy, brown, tough, 

 used for hubs, tool-handles, engraving blocks. Leaves oppo- 

 site, obovate, simple, 3 to 5 inches long, strongly veined, 

 grooved above, shiny surface, green, turning to red in autumn. 

 Flowers in terminal clusters, March to May, perfect, small; the 

 four scales of the bud spread and bleach, forming the showy, 

 white bracts, often miscalled "petals." Fruit 2-seeded, fleshy, 

 red berries, in erect clusters. Dist.: Massachusetts to Flor- 

 ida; west to Michigan, Missouri, and Texas. 



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