CHAPTER Yin. 



COENELIAN CHERRY -(CoIl^^JS.) 

 Natural Family Cornac^le— (Dogwood or Cornel.) 



[Name derived from Comu^ a liom, alluding to the hardness of the wood. la 

 fc'i-ench, ComouiUer : Dutch, Komoelje ; German, Kornel Kirsche ; Italian, Cory' 

 nolo; Spanish, Com^o.} 



GENERAL CHARACTERS. 



The species constituting this genus are mainly deciduous 

 shi'ubs or small trees. Flowers small, inconspicuous, but 

 in some species they are surrounded by a large and showy 

 involucre, which is sometimes called the flower, as in one 

 of our native species, [Cornus florida). There is but one 

 known species which produces fruit worthy of our atten- 

 tion. 



Cornus maSClllai — Cornelian Cherry. — Shrubs growing 

 ten to twenty feet high, with smooth branches; leaves 

 oval, acuminate, of a dull green color ; flowers small, yel- 

 low, in clusters, produced early in spring, before the leaves ; 

 fruit oblong, about one inch in length and half an inch in 

 diameter ; color bright reddish-scarlet ; flesh firm, slightly 

 juicy when ripe, acid, not particularly agreeable in its raw 

 state ; fruit ripens in September, but remains a long tim^ 

 on the bush, which makes it exceedingly ornamental. 

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