CORNACEAE. 



141 



Family CORNACEAE. Dogwood Family. 

 A rather small family, chiefly of shrubs ;, the dogwoods 

 much used in 'massed planting. 



CORNUS. Dogwood. Cornel. 



Deciduous shrubs, or a few undershrubs or small trees, the 

 latter with rather hard pale or brownish wood with minute dif- 

 fused ducts and fine but mostly evident medullary rays ; roundish 

 often bright-colored twigs usually compressed at the nodes ; 

 roundish homogeneous pale pith; opposite or in one case alter- 

 nate low or exceptionally raised U-shaped leaf-scars connected 

 by a transverse line, with 3 bundle-traces ; no stipule scars ; 

 usually solitary appressed elongated buds, often stalked or de- 

 veloping the first season, with 2 valvate scales ; simple entire 

 stalked exceptionally alternate or whorled leaves often whitened 

 beneath and with very characteristic closely appressed twinned 

 hairs ; small perfect polypetalous flowers either in an involucrate 

 head or an open corymb ; and small white or red or blue in- 

 ferior drupes. 



1. Low undershrubs. (Bunchberries). 2. 

 Shrubs or occasionally small trees. 



2. Leaves opposite. 

 Leaves whorled. 



3. Leaves irregularly alternate. 

 Leaves opposite. 4. 



4. Leaves at most lighter green beneath. 5. 

 Leaves whitened beneath. 8. 



5. Twigs and often lower surface of leaves woolly. 

 Twigs and leaves not woolly. 7. 



6. Lower surface silky, not granular. 

 Leaves hairy and granular beneath. 

 Leaves mostly woolly, not granular. 



7. Veins incurving to the leaf-tip ; flowers crowded. C. mas. 

 Veins not curving into the tip : flowers in cymes. C. femina. 



8. Flowers in flower-like heads : fruit red. C. florida. 

 Flowers cymose : fruit white to blue. 9. 



9. Leaves loosely hairy or woolly beneath. 10. 

 Leaves not woolly. 12. 



(Dogwoods). 3. 



C. suecica. 

 C. canadensis. 

 C. alternifolia. 



6. 



C. Amomum. 



C. obliqua. 



C. sanguinea. 



