288 CORNACE^. Cornus. 



Order L. CORNACEiE. DC. The Dog-wood Tribe. 



Calyx adherent to the ovary ; the limb 4-toothed : testivation valvate. Petals 

 distinct, equal in number to the teeth of the calyx. Stamens 4, alternate with 

 the petals. Ovary ■i-celled, with a solitary pendulous ovule in each cell : styles 

 united into one. Fruit a 2-celled drupe, crowned with the remains of the 

 calyx. Testa of the seed coriaceous. Embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen, 

 and nearly equalling it in length. — Trees or shrubs, with opposite (very rarely 

 somewhat alternate) leaves destitute of stipules. Flowers in cymes, or some- 

 times in heads surrounded with a petaloid involucre. Hairs mostly fixed by 

 the centre. 



1. CORNUS. Tourn.; VHerit. mon. Corn. 1788; Endl. gen. A^bl^. DOGWOOD. 



[ From the Latin, romu, a horn ; owing to the tonglincss of the wood.] 



Limb of the calyx minute. Petals oblong, spreading. Filaments filiform. Style clavate : 

 stigma obtuse or capitate. Drupes not united with each other into a syncarpium. — Leaves 

 entire, minute or scabrous with appressed hairs. Flowers white, rarely yellow. Bark 

 bitter and tonic, the active principle being a peculiar substance (as yet little known) called 

 Comine. 



ij 1. Flowers in cymes, without an involucre. 



1. Cornus altermfolia, Linn./. Alternate-leaved Dogwood. 



Branches alternate ; leaves more or less alternate, broadly oval or ovate, acuminate, the 

 lower surface whitish and somewhat rough ; cymes loose, spreading and depressed ; drupes 

 bluish-black. — Linn.f. nuppl. p. 125 ; VHerit. Corn. p. 10. t. 6 ; Michx.Jl. 1. p. 93 ; Pursh, 

 fi. 1. p. 109 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 210 ; Torr.fl. \.p. 180; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 58; "Guimp. Otto 

 4- Hayne, holz. t. 43 ;" DC. prodr. 4. p. 271 ; Beck, bat. p. 154 ; Darlingt.Jl. Cest. p. 108 ; 

 Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 65U. 



A small tree (10-20 feet high), the trunk sometimes 6 inches in diameter, with widely 

 spreading branches and a smooth j^ellowish-green bark. Leaves sometimes nearly opposite, 

 but usually alternate, though closely approximated, about 3 inches long, smooth above ; the 

 under surface pretty thickly sprinkled with centrally fixed hairs ; the base acute : petiole 

 slender, 1-2 inches long. Flowers in large flat cymes. Anthers linear-oblong (as in all the 

 species of this section). Petals lanceolate, cream-colored. Drupes globose, very dark blue 

 when mature. 



Moist woods, and banks of rivers. Fl. May - June. Fr. August. The bark is one of 

 the Shaker medicines, being considered diaphoretic and astringent. 



