118 FAMILIAR TREES 



The confusion of name and use, however, between 

 this and other small woods is still reflected in one 

 trade the manufacture of gunpowder. The name 

 Dogwood has been shared between Cornus sanguinea, 

 Euonymus europaus, Rham'nus Fran'gula and 

 Viburnum Op'ulus : the wood of all of them probably 

 has been employed in the manufacture of a fine- 

 grained charcoal, such as is used for some gunpowder : 

 that of the Spindle-tree is said to be the best for 

 drawing- crayons ; but for gunpowder it is Rhamnus 

 Frangula which retains the name Dogwood. 



It is more particularly on a chalk or limestone 

 soil that this bush abounds in thicket and hedgerow, 

 and it does not occur in Scotland and is uncommon 

 in Ireland ; so that, speaking of the country generally, 

 it is not so frequent as we might think from our 

 experience of it in the south-eastern counties. It 

 grows from four to eight, or even fifteen or twenty 

 feet in height, its round straight branches springing 

 in opposite pairs from the leaf-axils and spreading 

 in a horizontal or ascending direction. Their small 

 slender buds are enclosed by a few velvety scales, and 

 the surface of the young twigs is also pubescent. 

 These twigs may be olive-green, faintly, if at all, 

 tinged with red; but in spring and winter, when 

 affected by frost, they glow with the blood-red hue 

 that has given the shrub its specific name sanguinea. 

 As they get older they lose their down and their red- 

 ness, becoming grey and then olive-brown, and cork- 

 warts make their appearance, Assuring the hitherto 

 smooth bark into scales. This bark and the leaves, 

 when bruised, have a strong fetid odour, to which the 



