C0RNACE2E. 77 



ployed as slightly astringent. G. sangu'uiea,^ a species common in 

 our woods, has a bitter and nauseous fruit ; its seeds contain a fleshy 

 albumen, tolerably rich in oil fit for burning. In C. circinata^ and 

 sericea,^ North American species, the bark is not only bitter- astringent, 

 but also slightly aromatic, owing to a certain quantity of essential 

 oil associated with the tannin. In the same regions the bark of 

 C. striata * and of G. alha ^ is used in medicine ; the wood is hard 

 and is useful for cabinet work and joinery. G. canadensis ^ and 

 suecica,'^ small herbaceous species, have sweet insipid fruit eaten in 

 many countries. The Cornels of the section Benthamia, particularly 

 C. capitata,^ have compound fleshy and edible fruit. Siebold mentions 

 G. officinalis, a Japanese plant, from the fruit of which are prepared 

 antiseptic drinks prescribed in cases of bilious and putrid fever. 

 Garnja has round its seed an acidulous arillate pulp. In Japan the 

 mountaineers eat as vegetables the young shoots of Helwingia japonica. 

 Cornus sanguinca, alha, paniculata, Thelicani, alterni/olia, mas, &c., are 

 cultivated in our gardens, more for their foliage or their fruit than 

 for their small white or yellow flowers. G. florida and capitata on 

 the contrary produce a tolerably good effect by their white bracts 

 w^hich constitute the involucre of the inflorescence. The fruit of the 

 latter is not without merit, and somewhat resembles a large straw- 

 berry. Some Garryas are cultivated in gardens, the slender and 

 pendent male catkins having an elegant appearance ; also Helicingia 

 japonica (fig. 52, 53), curious for its inflorescence situated in the 

 upper surface of the leaves,^ and in conservatories the Griselinias of 

 New Zealand, the flowers of which are insignificant, but its leaves 

 are persistent and of a fine brilliant green. But the best known for 



^ L. Spec. 171 (not Forsk.). — Guimp. loc. cit. ^ L. Spec. 172. — Lher. Cor>i. t. 1. — Cukt, 



t. 3.— DC. Frodr. n. 5.— Mer. et Del. loc. cit. Bot. Mag, t. 880.— DC. Prodr. n. 16.— Payer, 



436.— Gren. et Godr. loc. cit. 3. Elem. 90, fig. 142. 



Lher. Com. 7, n. 8, t. 3.— DC. Prodr. n. 8. ? L. Spec. 172.— CEd. Fl. Dan. t. 5.— Sow. 



— LiNDL. Fl. Mid. 82.— ScHM. CEstr. B. ii. t. 69. Engl. Bot. t. 310.— (7. herbacea L. Fl. Lapp. t. 5, 



— C. rtigosa Lamk. Diet. ii. 115. — C. tomentulosa fig. 3. The use of its fruit is said to increase 



MiCHX. FL Bor.-Amer. i. 91. appetite [Lt(s-a-chrasis (Lindl. Teg. Kingd. 



' Lher. loc. cit.t. 2. — DC.Prodr. n. 7. — Lindl. 783) ; in Sweden, Soensebaer, Smorbaer']. 



Fl. Med. 81. — C. ccertdea Lamk. — C. cyanocarpa * Wall. Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 414 ; PI. As. Bar. 



Mill. Barton says that its bark, as a tonic, iii. 10, t. 214. — Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 141. — 



approaches nearest to the Cinchona. It is also DC. Prodr. n. 10. — Benthamia fragifera Lindl. 



a powerful diarrhoetic (Robinson). Bot. Meg. t. 1579. — Sieb. et Zucc. Fl. Jap. i. 39. 



* Lamk. Diet. iii. 116.— DC. Prodr. n. 4. —Hook. f. Bot. Mag. t. 4641. 



^ L. Mantiss. 40.— Pall. Fl. Boss. t. 34 —DC. ^ The male is especially cultivated. 

 Prodr. n. 6. — C. stolonifera Michx. 



