Rough-Leaved Cornel 



743 



The branches are slender, stiff and ascending, forming a narrow head. The 

 bark is thin, close, greenish or grayish brown, the twigs slender, round, reddish 

 brown to purplish. The leaves are opposite, firm, eUiptic, oval to ovate, 4 to 

 12 cm. long, taper-pointed at the apex, narrowed or tapering at the base, slightly 

 wavy or quite entire on the margin, green and shghtly appressed-hairy above, paler 

 and somewhat hairy beneath; the leaf-stalk is 5 to 15 mm. long. The flowers, 

 appearing in April or May, are in loose, flat compound cymes 3 to 6 cm. across, on 

 nearly smooth pedicels; the calyx-tube is urn-shaped and woolly; the corolla is 5 to 

 6 mm. across, the petals linear-oblong or linear-lanceolate, pointed and white. 

 The fruits are subglobose drupes about 6 mm. in diameter, of a pale blue color, 

 supported on stout pinkish stalks; the stone is somewhat oblique, 3 to 4 mm. 

 broad, slightly less in length, faintly ribbed and scarcely furrowed. 



As a shrub this plant takes the place at the South of the well-known northern 

 Panicled cornel, Cornus candidissima Marshall, to which it is very similar, except 

 in the different color of its fruit and twigs. 



3. ROUGH-LEAVED CORNEL — Comus asperifolia Michaux 



Also called Rough-leaved dogwood, this is usually a shrub, of low, wet soils 

 and moist banks of streams from Ontario to Minnesota south to Florida and 

 Texas, reaching a maximum height of 15 

 meters, with a trunk diameter of 2.5 dm. 



The branches are erect, thin and stiff, 

 forming a narrow tree. The bark is 

 about 3 mm. thick, fissured and scaly, 

 dark reddish brown. The twigs are 

 slender, hght green and hairy at first, 

 soon becoming red-brown. The termi- 

 nal winter buds are about 3 mm. long, 

 sharp-pointed, the lateral ones smaller. 

 The leaves are opposite, firm, elhptic 

 to ovate or ovate-oblong, 5 to 15 cm. 

 long, tapering toward the sharp apex, 

 narrowed, rounded or somewhat heart- 

 shaped at the base, sUghtly wavy- 

 margined, or entire, rough and coarsely 

 hairy above, paler, less rough-hairy, and 

 prominently veined beneath; the leaf- 

 stalk is stout, 8 to 18 mm. long, grooved 

 and rough. The flowers, which appear from April to June in rather loose, com- 

 pound cymes 5 to 8 cm. across, are nearly white; the calyx is slightly hairy, its 

 teeth, 0.5 mm. long and sharp-pointed; the petals are lanceolate to oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, blunt and recurved; the stamens are about as long as the petals. The 



Fig. 681. — Rough-leaved Cornel. 



