THE DOGWOOD OR CORNEL. 



311 



oblong and pointed, are set like a cross in one plane and at right 

 angles to the pistil. Between each petal is a white stamen tipped 

 with yellow, inclining slightly upwards, and springing Ironi the vellow 

 tinted base of the pistil ; the sepals are extremely minute. By 

 August the flowers are replaced bv berries scarcely a quarter of an 

 inch in diameter, with a dull surlace. As thev ripen, the pale pure 

 green of the early stages of growth passes through shades ot purple 

 and black. The flowers haye an unpleasant scent. 



THE LEAVES. 



In spring the pair of young leaves which terminate the shoot 

 stand upright facing one another. Each has the blade rolled inwards 



from the edges to the central rib, so that the 

 downy white of the under surface can be seen. 

 Below the terminal leaves are other pairs 

 of leaves, each one at right angles to the pair 

 above and below it. The lowest pairs reach 

 the fullest development and measure two and a 

 half inches in length. The leaf pedicels are 

 set on the shoot at half a right angle, and the 

 central rib curves backwards and downwards so 

 that the tips of the leaves droop. When very 

 young the leaves have a purple tint which 

 changes later on to fresh green : the white down of the under 

 surface also disappears, though it is still covered with little hairs. In 

 the summer the leaf becomes rounder in shape and darker green in 

 colour on the upper side, the underside remaining pale green. The 

 leaf-blade does not lie flat, but is, as it were, bent upwards on either 

 side of rhe central rib, so that when seen foreshortened the leaf 





