CORNACEAE 



Flowering Dogwood. Dogwood. Boxwood 



Cornus florida, L. 



HABIT. A bushy tree with a height of 15-30 feet and a 

 short trunk 8-12 inches in diameter; slender, spreading tranches 

 form a flat-topped crown. 



LEAVES. Opposite, closely clustered at the ends of the 

 branchlets, simple, 3-5 inches long, 2-3. inches broad; ovate to 

 elliptical; obscurely wavy-toothed; thick and firm; bright green, 

 covered with minute, appressed hairs above, pale and more or 

 less pubescent beneath, turning bright scarlet in autumn; petioles 

 short, grooved. 



FLOWERS. May, with the leaves; perfect; greenish; in 

 dense clusters surrounded by 4 large, -white or pinkish, petal- 

 like bracts (often mistaken for the corolla), borne on short, 

 stout peduncles; calyx 4-lobed, light green; petals 4, yellow- 

 green; stamens 4, alternate with the petals; ovary 2-celled. 



FRUIT. October; an ovoid, scarlet drupe, borne in close 

 clusters of 3-4; flesh is bitter. 



WINTER-BUDS. Leaf -buds narrow-conical, acute, green- 

 ish; flower-buds spherical or vertically flattened, grayish. 



BARK. Twigs pale green, becoming red or yellow-green 

 their first winter, later becoming light brown or red-gray; red- 

 brown or blackish on the trunk, often separating into quad- 

 rangular, plate-like scales. 



WOOD. Heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, brown- 

 ish, with thick, lighter colored sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Southern Michigan as far north as the 

 Grand-Saginaw Valley. 



HABITAT. Prefers rich, well-drained soil, usually under 

 the shade of other trees. 



NOTES. A valuable species for ornamental purposes. 

 Rather slow of growth. 



205 



