FOREST TREES. 81 
CORNUS—CORNEL, DOGWOOD. 
Natural Order, Cornacee. 
Flowers, perfect (in some foreign species, dicecious) ; 
salyx, four-toothed ; petals, four, oblong, spreading ; 
stamens, four; filaments, slender; style, slender; 
stigma, slender, flat or capitate; berry, small, with a 
two-celled and two-seeded stone. 
Cornus florida—Flowering Dogwood. 
Leaves, ovate, pointed, acutish at the base; leaves 
of the involucre one and a-half inches long, inversely 
heart-shaped, or notched; fruit, oval. 
This species of Cornus is the only one in the United 
States meriting the name of a tree. It is more or 
less common in most parts of the country south of 
latitude 43°, growing from fifteen to thirty-five feet 
high, the largest having a diameter of nine or ten 
inches. The wood is very hard, strong, heavy, and 
fine grained, and takes a brilliant polish. It is applied 
to various uses, for which wood of that description is 
needed. 
The flowers are small, and collected in clusters, 
which are surrounded by a large involucre composed 
of four white leaves. These involucres are numerous 
enough to cover the tree with bloom, and render it 
one of the most showy and ornamental. The berries, 
which are red, are also conspicuous. 
The seeds of the Dogwood. do not vegetate till the 
second or third year. To make them grow the first 
year, Michaux gives the following method:—The 
