Western Dogwood 



747 



flower buds differ, however, in being naked, the flower clusters not being enclosed 

 by the bracts, which are only at their bases. The leaves are quite thin, ovate to 

 somewhat obovate, sharp or short taper-pointed at the apex, and tapering at the 

 base, slightly scalloped on the margin, bright green and sparingly hairy with im- 

 pressed venation above, whitish-hairy and prominently veined beneath, the leaf- 

 stalk short, stout, grooved, and hairy. The flowers appear from May to July, and 

 occasionally in the autumn, in dense heads, surrounded by an involucre of 4 to 6 

 showy white or pink petal-like bracts, each 4 to 8 cm. long, 1.5 to 5 cm. wide, nar- , 

 rowly oblong to obovate, or rarely orbicular in outline, variously pointed or blunt 



Fig. 6S4. — Western Dogwood. 



at the apex, thickened and contracted toward the base, strongly veined and retic- 

 ulated; the calyx is yellow-green or purplish with darker lobes; the petals linear, 

 blunt, usually spreading, yellowish green or pale purple. The drupes, crowded in 

 globular heads of 20 to 40, are about 12 mm. long, ovoid, but more or less flat- 

 tened; they are light red or orange-colored, bearing the persistent calyx; the flesh 

 is thick, containing a grooved blunt-pointed i- or 2-seeded stone. 



The wood is hard, close-grained, hght red-brown and satiny, with a specific 

 gravity of about 0.74, and is used for cabinet work and tool handles. 



This beautiful tree has not to our knowledge been successfully grown in the 

 northeastern States. 



