506 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



flowers being furnished with stamens only. For an opposite reason, the name of Cornus fce'mina 

 was given to C. sanguinea. (See p. 502.) The name of Cornelian Cherry relates to the beautiful 

 colour of the fruit, which resembles that of a cornelian. 

 Engravings. Black., t. 121. ; the plate in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vi. ; and our Jigs. 921.and 922. 



Spec. Char. y fyc. Branches sraoothish. Leaves oval, 

 acuminated, rather pubescent on both surfaces. 

 Flowers protruded before the leaves. Umbels about 

 equal in length to the 4-leaved involucre. Flowers 

 yellow. Fruit elliptic, of a bright shining scarlet co- 

 lour, the size and form of a small olive or acorn, very 

 styptic in its immature state. (Don's Mill.) A large 

 shrub or low tree. Europe, Britain excepted, and 

 in the North of Asia, in hedges and among bushes. 

 Height 12ft. to 20 ft. Introduced in 1596. Flow- 

 ers yellow ; February to April. Fruit cornelian- 

 coloured ; ripe in October and November. Decay- 

 ing leaves reddish green. Naked young wood brownish green. 



rarieties. 



C. m. 2fructu ceres coloris N. Du Ham. ii. p. 162. has the fruit of a 



wax colour. 

 If C. m. 3 vanegatus has the leaves edged with white or yellow. 



921. C. mils. 



n9.2. Cdrnus mis. 



The wood has been, in all ages, celebrated for its hardness and durability ; 

 and it is at the same time tough and flexible. In a dry state, it weighs 69 Ib. 

 5 oz. to the cubic foot. The small branches are said to make the most durable 

 spokes for ladders ; wooden forks for turning the grain on barn floors, and for 

 making hay ; hoops, butchers' skewers, and toothpicks. The wooden forks 

 are made by selecting branches which divide into three near the extremity; 

 and, after cutting the branch to a proper length, which is commonly about 5 

 or 6 feet, the bark is taken off, and the three branches which are to form the 

 prongs are bent so as to form a triangle, like the wooden corn forks of Eng- 

 land. In this state they are put into a hot oven, where they are kept till they 

 are hardened, so as to retain the shape given to them. Similar hay and straw 

 forks are made of the nettle tree in France, and of the willow in various parts 

 of England, by the same procedure. The fruit, when thoroughly ripe, is some- 



