CORNACEAE 
3 Flowering Dogwood. Dogwood. Boxwood 
Cornus florida L, 
HABIT.—A bushy -tree with a height of 15-30 feet and a 
short trunk 8-12 inches in diameter; slender, spreading branches 
form a flat-topped crown. 
LEAVES.—Opposite, closely clustered at the. ends of the 
branchlets, simple, 3-5 inches long, 2-3 inches broad; ovate to 
elliptical; obscurely wavy-toothed; thick and firm; bright green, 
covered with minute, appressed hairs above, pale and more or 
less pubescent beneath, turning bright scarlet in autumn; petioles 
short, grooved. — 
FLOWERS.—May, with the leaves; perfect; greenish; in 
dense clusters surrounded by 4 large, white or pinkish, petal- 
like bracts (often mistaken for the corolla), borne on short, 
stout peduncles; calyx 4-lobed, light green; petals 4, yellow- 
green; stamens 4, alternate with the petals; ovary 2-celled. 
FRUIT.—October; an ovoid, scarlet drupe, borne in close 
clusters of 3-4; flesh is bitter. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Leaf-buds narrow-conical, acute, green- 
ish; flower-buds spherical or vertically flattened, grayish. 
BARK.—Twigs pale green, becoming red or yellow-green 
their first winter, later becoming light brown or red-gray; red- 
brown or blackish on the trunk, often separating into quad- 
rangular, plate-like scales. 
WOOD.—Heavy, hard, strong, tough, close-grained, brown- 
ish, with thick, lighter colored sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Southern Michigan as far north as the 
Grand-Saginaw Valley. 
HABITAT.—Prefers rich, well-drained soil, usually under 
the shade of other trees. ; 
NOTES.—A valuable species for ornamental purposes. 
Rather slow of growth. 
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