THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



Alternative Names. Flowering Dogwood, Boxwood in U.S.A. 

 (49). Dogwood, Cornelian-wood in England. 



Source of Supply. United States of America. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight, 47-50J lbs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 3, compare Blackthorn. Smell or 

 taste none. Burns well and quietly : heat expels a crimson 

 juice : embers glow in still air. Solution with water a dirty 

 lilac-colour, strong. 



Grain. Fine, close and dense. Surface lustrous : the rays are 

 duller than the ground-tissue. 



Bark. " Reddish-brown checked cross-wise as well as longi- 

 tudinally in four- or several-sided plates, thus presenting a 

 peculiarly checkered appearance" (49). Of one layer showing 

 many hard rod-like bodies and the continuations of the rays : 

 much broken up. 



Uses, etc. " Turnery, wood-engraving, cogs, hubs " (49). 

 " Bearings, barrel-hoops " (100). Shuttle-making : formerly 

 for arrow-making and for charcoal for gunpowder. " A small 

 tree about 15 inches in diameter at most" (49). 



Authorities. Sargent (100), No. 151. Hough (49), partiv. 

 p. 2 p. Holtzapffel (48), p. 83. Wiesner (131), L. 12, p. 984. 

 Usually confused in point of appearance with Beech, Maple and 

 Virginian Dogwood, and through confusion of names with other 

 species of Cornus and with a score of other Dogwoods, so-called, 

 from all parts of the world. 



Colour. Reddish-white: "Chocolate-brown" (49). "Some- 

 times changing to green and red" (100). My_specimens are 

 probably pieces of second-growth wood to which the following 

 description will only apply. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Need lens, size 4-5 : little variation : evenly scattered 

 but rather fewer in the Autumn wood : mostly single, some pairs, 

 rarely more together : few, from 15 in the Autumn wood to 90 

 per sq. mm. in the Spring wood. 



Rays. Just visible, size 3, or rather less : moderately broad, 

 apparently of two sizes. The larger 2-4 per mm. : the smaller 

 8-11 : tapering inwards only : denser than the ground-tissue : 

 straight, not avoiding the pores (except the extremely fine ends) : 

 brown or reddish. 



Rings. Clear but not prominent : boundary a line of contrast 

 between the denser Autumn wood and the more porous Spring 

 wood : contour undulating. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant in isolated cells and strings of cells. 



Pith. Roundish or lobed, 1-2 mm. thick, hard, white to brown. 



Radial Section. Pores very fine, shining lines, need lens. Rays 

 conspicuous, flesh-coloured, narrow flakes forming a pretty 

 figure. Rings just traceable. 



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