Cornus — Cornel — Dogwood. 279 



ing so as to become very conspicuous, and whether seen in 

 the edges of a forest or in the garden border are very beauti- 

 ful. The fruit which follows is closely bunched, bright scar- 

 let, and also showy. It is so bitter that even the birds will 

 not touch it until its character has been somewhat changed 

 by frost, when it becomes acceptable to the robins, and 

 probably to the voracious little sparrows that are always 

 with us. The bark of the stem and branches is also very 

 bitter, and is sometimes used successfully as a substitute 

 for Peruvian bark as a tonic, an astringent, or an antiseptic. 

 In autumn the foliage changes to purple and crimson, and 

 with the bunches of crimson berries makes the tree almost 

 as attractive at that season as it was in springtime. Like 

 most of the cornels, it is of slow growth and entirely hardy. 

 Some of the earlier botanists who visited this country 

 and came in contact with this shrub or tree, were enthu- 

 siastic in its praise, as well they might be. William 

 Bartram, in his Travels in Georgia and Florida, gives 

 the following account of its appearance as he found it near 

 the banks of the Alabama River : " We now entered a re- 

 markable grove of dogwood trees, which continued nine 

 or ten miles unaltered, except here and there by a tower- 

 ing Magnolia grandifiora. The land on which they grow 

 is an exact level ; the surface a shallow, loose, black mould, 

 on a stratum of stiff, yellowish clay. These trees were 

 about twelve feet high, spreading horizontally ; and their 

 limbs, meeting and interlocking with each other, formed 

 one vast, shady, cool grove, so dense and humid as to ex- 

 clude the sunbeams, and prevent the intrusion of almost 

 every vegetable; affording us a most desirable shelter 



