THE CORNEL CHERRY OR DOGWOOD. 



673 



Learned botanical folk call Arisama triphyllum ; 

 sub rosa, this is not much better, with the exception that 

 it does not savor of vulgarity. Our flower's relationship 

 to the queenly calla is perceived at once by the family 

 likeness, but I suspect, too, that he has some poor kin, 

 among the lot a wild cabbage, of which we will not speak. 



I have seen the arisaema planted in damp garden 

 corners, in rockeries, and where it would catch the mist 

 from fountains. In all these places it seems to grow well, 

 and at all times of the year, there is something bright, 

 curious or attractive about the plant. But when the root 

 is set in too rich soil, all the beauty of the strangely 

 painted blossom becomes lost in odd contortions. 



Now, when the north winds begin to blow and ' ' Novem- 

 ber's sky is gray and drear," the frost pencils that paint 

 the arum berries red blanch its leaves to soft, white, 

 silken tapestries, that rustle and drape themselves like 

 fine gauze about the red, gleaming berries. Is this a new 



surplice or a shroud ? Howbeit, Jack's sermon is almost 

 finished for the year. 



" So much for the preacher, 



The sermon comes next ; 

 Shall we tell how he preached it, 



And where was his text ? 

 Alas, like too many 



Grown-up folk who worship 

 In man-builded churches today, 



We heard not the preacher 

 Expound or discuss ; 



We looked at the people 

 And they looked at us ; 



We saw all their dresses, 

 Their colors and shapes, 



The trim of their bonnets, 

 The cut of their capes ; 



We heard the wind-organ, 

 The bee and the bird. 



But from Jack-in-the-Pulpit 

 We heard not a word." 



THE CORNEL CHERRY OR DOGWOOD. 



NATIVE AND FOREIGN SPECIES. 



THE SPECIES known as Cornus florida is, 

 perhaps, the most interesting of all the dog- 

 woods It is said that forests on the Ameri- 

 can side of the Gulf of Mexico, ' ' in May, are 

 white with its large, conspicuous flowers, 

 sometimes occupying tracts of many acres exclusively, 

 covering them with an almost unvaried whiteness before- 

 the leaves of the trees are put forth." In the colder 

 climate of New England it blooms a month later, and is 

 found only in isolated clumps or singly, among other 

 shrubs or trees, the snowy whiteness of its flowers con- 

 trasting well with the surrounding green. 



One would be likely to take the large, spreading in- 

 volucre of the cornus for the flower, and the tiny florets 

 for a collection of stamens ; but each perfect flower has 

 a calyx composed of four tiny segments, four oblong 

 petals and four stamens, with a slender style and flat 

 stigma. The involucre is also in four parts, which are 

 inversely heart-shaped, and notched at the end. The 

 little florets ripen into a bunch of bright scarlet berries, 

 rendering the shrub nearly as conspicuous an object in 

 October and November as it was in springtime. The 

 young branches are marked with irregular, longitudinal 

 lines ; the leaves are ovate and opposite — only in C. atlcr- 

 ni'folia do we find them alternate. But even this is not 

 a genuine departure from the rule, as some of them are 

 imperfectly whorled and mixed with those which are op- 

 posite. Not being aware of this peculiarity at one time, 

 I found some difficulty in analyzing a specimen Thisde- 

 parture from certain set rules often mystifies the young 

 botanist ; wherefore, too much can scarcely be said in 

 favor of close observation. 



The branches of C. alteryn'foUa spread from the top, 

 making a somewhat flattened summit The bark is 

 greenish, with warty streaks, and the leaves are oval and 



hoary beneath. The flowers are buff-colored, small, and 

 arranged in irregular cymes. Its purple berries give to 

 this variety the name of purple-fruited cornel. 



C. pa7iiculata, or the panicled cornel, has white ber- 

 ries succeeding small, pure white flowers in many convex 

 cymes. This shrub grows perhaps ten feet high, and is 

 found in low woodlands, or thickets upon river banks. 



The cornel known as the red osier takes its name from 

 its smooth, slender branches, which are always red in 

 winter. It grows in clumps in wet places, and, I sup- 

 pose, receives its specific name, stolonifera, from the 

 fact that it multiplies freely from subterranean suckers or 

 stolons, from which erect stems shoot up. The flowers 

 are white, and followed by blue berries. 



C. sericca, the silky cornel, is sometimes called by its 

 Indian name of Jdnnikinnik . It has purplish, spreading 

 branches, with red shoots, ovate leaves silky beneath, 

 yellowish flowers and bright blue berries. C. stricta 

 is found only in the southern states. It, also, has blue 

 berries, and the flower-anthers are of the same shade. 



We must not forget our low cornel, or bunch-berry, 

 C. canadensis. It cannot be called a shrub, however, 

 as its height seldom exceeds eight inches. Wilson Fogg, 

 in his " A Year among the Trees" says " it may be com- 

 pared to a flower, cut off with a single whorl of leaves, 

 and then inserted in the ground. You might suppose 

 that the large tree cornel was buried, and that these little 

 whorls, with their flowers, were peeping up through the 

 ground from the branches beneath. At some distance 

 they are easily mistaken for wood anemones, though on 

 closer examination no resemblance is apparent. The 

 flowers are very showy and attractive in pastures and 

 woods, and produce in autumn a round and compact 

 cluster of scarlet berries, which are palatable and whole- 

 some." 



