CoRNus. CORNACE^. 291 



rather obtuse. Petals oblong, obtuse, at length reflexed, greenish-yellow. Anthers oval. 

 Stigma capitate. Drupe bright scarlet and shining when mature. 



In woods ; common. Fl. Miiy. Fr. September - October. 



This tree, when in full flower, is one of the greatest ornaments of the American forest. 

 The wood, on account of its close grain and hardness, is extremely useful. It is often em- 

 ployed as a substitute for box, and is susceptible of a fine polish. It also makes excellent 

 cogs for wheels, teeth for harrows, and is used for a variety of other purposes where a hard, 

 durable, fine-grained wood is required. It frequently constitutes a portion of the firewood 

 brought to the city of New-York, and is esteemed nearly equal to hard maple. The bark is 

 a valuable tonic. See the works of Bigelow and Barton quoted above ; also Wood ^ Backers 

 U, S. Dispens. p. 265. 



!} 3. Flowers in contracted umbel-like cymes, surrounded by a petaloid involucre : stem herbaceous. 

 7. CoRNUs Canadensis, Linn. Dwarf Dogwood. 



Subterranean trunk creeping, a little woody ; flowering stems simple, ascending ; upper 

 leaves verticillate, on very short petioles ; involucre 4-leaved, much longer than the flowers ; 

 petals greenish-white. — hinn. amcen. acad. \.p. 157, and spec. \.p. 117; VHerit. I. c. p. 2. 

 t. 1 ; Bot. mag. t. 880 ; Michx. fl. 1. p. 91 ; Pursh, f^.l.p.lQl; Torr. fl. I. p. 177 ; 

 Bigel. fl. Bast. p. 57 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 277 ; DC. prodr. 4. p. 274 ; Beck, bot. 

 p. 153 ; Torr. 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 652. 



Subterranean stems long, slender. Flowering stems about 6 inches high, with one or two 

 pairs of bracts or small opposite leaves, and a whorl of usually 6 oval or oval-lanceolate leaves 

 at the summit, both surfaces of which are sprinkled with very minute centrally fixed hairs. 

 Peduncle about an inch long. 'Involucral leaves greenish-white, broadly ovate, abruptly 

 acuminate. Cyme many-flowered, much shorter than the involucre. Calyx-tube oblong- 

 turbinate : teeth short, obtuse. Petals ovate, one of them (in all my specimens) with a long 

 subulate process at the summit. Anthers oblong, yellow. Drupes globose, bright red, 

 somewhat edible. 



Damp woods and shady swamps ; rather common. Fl. May - June. Fr. September. 



37* 



