DOGWOOD FAMILY 



Stamens. Four, exserted, filaments threadlike; inserted with 

 the petals. 



Pistil. Ovary inferior, two-celled ; style slender ; stigma 

 capitate. 



Fruit. Drupe, globose, very pale blue or white with a bluish 

 tinge, three-eighths of an inch in diameter; stone sub-globose, 

 ridged. Bitter, aromatic. September. 



This is one of the most attractive of the cornels. It 

 reaches the height of six or ten feet ; the branches are 

 green and warty-dotted, the bright green leaves, large 

 and roundish. It should be sought for in open rocky 

 woods, and in cultivation will do best in a shady loca- 

 tion. The flowers are rather large for a dogwood, 

 and the fruit, light blue or bluish white, is too scanty 

 to be effective, but the general effect of the plant is ex- 

 cellent. 



SWAMP DOGWOOD. SILKY DOGWOOD. KINNIKINNIK 



Cornus ainbmujn. Cornus sericea. 



A shrub six to ten feet high, found in wet soil, low woods and 

 along streams. Ranges from New Brunswick to Florida, west to 

 Nebraska and Texas. Bark bitter and tonic. 



Stems. Shoots downy, green with reddish tinge. Winter 

 twigs and branches purple; stems brown. 



Leaves. Opposite, simple, three to five inches long, oval, nar- 

 rowly-ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, narrowed or rounded at base, 

 entire, acuminate at apex ; midvein and primary veins depressed 

 above, ridged below. They come out of the bud slightly invo- 

 lute, pale green, with white woolly hairs ; when full grown are 

 bright shining green above, pale green, silky downy, often glau- 

 cous, beneath. Autumnal tints dull purple to deep red. 



Flowers. May, July. Perfect, cream-white, borne in flat 

 cymes, one and a half to two and a half inches across. 



Calyx. Tube bell-like, four-toothed ; coherent with the 

 ovary. 



248 



