Cornus. 



CORSTACEyE. 49 



Wood of the large strong ribs very light, soft, rather coarse-grained, 

 solid, satiny, susceptible of a tine polish, almost indestructible in contact 

 with the ground ; medullary rays very numerous, broad ; color light brown 

 tiii»ed with yellow ; used in the region almost exclusively for the rafters 

 of adobe houses, for fencing, and by the Indians for lances, bows, etc. 



The edible fruit is largely collected and dried by the Indians. 



CORNACE^E. 



150. Cornus alternifolia, L. f. 

 Dogwood. 



New Brunswick, west along the valley of the Saint Lawrence River 

 to the northern shores of Lake Superior, south through the northern States 

 and along the Alleghany Mountains to northern Georgia and Alabama. 



A small tree, 4 to 8 metres in height, with a trunk 0.15 to 0.20 metre 

 in diameter ; low, rich woods, and borders of streams and swamps. 



Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, checking badly in drying ; medullary 

 rays numerous, thin ; color brown tinged with red, the sap-wood light 

 yellow. 



151. Cornus florida, L. 

 Flowering Dogwood. Boxwood. 



Southern New England, southern Ontario, southern Minnesota, and 

 through the Atlantic forests to middle Florida, and the valley of the 

 Brazos River, Texas. 



A small tree, 9 to 12 metres in height, with a trunk 0.30 to 0.45 metre 

 in diameter, or toward its northern limits reduced to a low shrub ; rich 

 woods, common, especially at the south. 



Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, tough, checking badly in dry- 

 ing, satiny, susceptible of a beautiful polish . medullary rays numerous, 

 conspicuous ; color brown, changing in different specimens to shades of 

 green and red, the sap-wood lighter ; used in turnery, for wood engraving 

 and the bearings of machinery, hubs of wheels, barrel-hoops, etc. 



The bark, especially of the root, in common with that of the other spe- 

 cies of the genus, possesses bitter tonic properties, and is used in the form 

 of decoctions, etc., in the treatment of intermittent and malarial fevers. 



152. Cornus Nuttallii, Audubon. 

 Flowering Dogwood. 



Vancouver's Island, through western Washington and Oregon, and 

 southward in California along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada 

 and through the Coast Ranges to the San Bernardino Mountains. 



A small, slender tree, sometimes 18 to 24 metres in height, with a trunk 

 rarely 0.45 metre in diameter ; reaching in the Cascade Mountains an 



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