502 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



Mill.') A smooth deciduous shrub or low tree. North America, from 

 Canada to Carolina, in shady woods on river banks. Height 15 ft. to 20 ft. 

 Introduced in 1 7G0. Flowers white ; May to July. Fruit purple ; ripe 

 in October. Decaying leaves reddish yellow. Naked young wood green- 

 ish or reddish brown. 



This species is easily known from every other, even at a distance, by the 

 horizontal umbelliferous character assumed by the branches, which are also 

 dichotomous, with clusters of leaves at the joints ; and the general colour 

 is that of a lively green. The leaves are generally alternate, but not unfre- 

 quently opposite. 



B. Leaves opposite. 



^ 2. C. sangui'nea L. The b\ood-red-leaved, or comvion. Dogwood. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., p. 171. ; Den's Mill., 3. p. 399. ; Lodd. Cat., edit. 1836. 



Synonymes. C. foe'mina Raii Syn. i60.% Virga sanguinea Matth. Valgr. 1. p. 236. ; Female Cor- 

 nel, Dogberry Tree, Hound Tree, Hound's-berry Tree, Prickwood, Gaten or Gatten Tree, Gater 

 or Gatter Tree, Catteridge Tree, wild Cornel ; Cornouiller sauvage, sanguin, or femelle, Puine 

 or Bois punais, Fr. ; rother Hartriegel, Ger. ; Sanguinello, Ital. 



Derivation. This species is called fe'mina, and Female Cornel, because it bears fruit when very 

 young ; whereas Cornus mas produces male blossoms only till the tree is 15 or 20 years old. Virga 

 sanguinea is literally the bloody twig, alluding to the colour of the shoots, though they are not 

 nearly so red as those of C6rnus alba. The names of Dogberry Tree, Hound Tree, .tc., arise 

 from the same source as Dogwood. (See above.) Prickwood alludes to the use of the wood for 

 skewers ; Gaten Tree is a corruption of Gatr treow, the Saxon name for this species ; or, as 

 some suppose, it is derived from gayta. the Spanish word for a pipe, the wood of this tree being 

 more hollow, or full of pith, than that of C. mas. Catteridge, and all the other somewhat similar 

 names, are derived from Gaten. Chaucer calls the fruit Gaitres berries, evidently from the same 

 origin. The French names of Puine, and Bois punais, bug-wood, are from the strong and un- 

 pleasant smell of the bark and leaves ; and also because a decoction of them forms a wash to 

 destroy bugs. Rother Hartriegel signifies red hard rail, or red hard wood. 



Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 249. ; Fl. Dan.,t. 481. ; N. Du Ham., 2. t. 44. ; and omfig. 913. 



Spec. Char., t^-c. Bracteas straight. Leaves ovate, acute, 

 smooth and green on both surfaces. Corymbs flat. 

 Branches of a dark red when full grown. Leaves 2 

 to 3 in. long. Flowers greenish white, unpleasantly 

 scented. Petals revolute at the sides. Fruit dark 

 purple, and very bitter. (Deli's Mill.) A large shrub. 

 Europe and the North of Africa, in hedges and thickets, 

 especially on a chalk and limestone soil ; plentiful in 

 Britain, in like situations ; and also said to grow in 

 North America, near the lakes of Canada and near 

 New York ; but it has probably been introduced 

 there. Height 4 ft. to lo ft. Flowers white ; June. 

 Fruit dark purple; ripe in August and September. sis- c.sauguinea. 

 Decaying leaves deep red. Naked young wood green. 



Varieties. 



^ C. s. 2 Purshii Don's Mill. 3. p. 399. ; C. sanguinea Piirsh, Schmidt 

 Baiim. 2. t. 66. ; has the flowers with yellow anthers, and the 

 berries a dark brown. Lakes of Canada, and near New York; and 

 only differs from the C, sanguinea of Europe in having the leaves 

 pubescent, and in being of larger stature. 



at C. s. Sfdliis variegdtis Lodd. Cat. has the leaves variegated with white 

 and yellow, and occasional streaks of red. A plant lately received 

 into Messrs. Loddiges's collection, named C. candidissima fol. var., 

 appears, from the leaves, to be identical with this variety. C, can- 

 didissima, in the same collection, appears fi-om its leaves to be 

 nothing more than C. sanguinea. I 



One of the commonest shi'ubs in old shrubberies ; and easily known from r 

 all the other kinds of Cornus by the abundance of its dark purple fruit, and j 

 the inten.>ely dark red of its leaves before they drop off in autumn. It is from| 

 this last circumstance, we suppose, that the specific name of sanguinea has j 

 been given to it, though it is much more obviously ajiplicable to C alba, oni 

 account of the redness of its shoots. C. purpifl-ea would be a much better; 



