DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 
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genus, but the common Dogwood, ( Cornus jiorida ,) is the 
only species which has any claims to rank as a tree. In the 
middle states, where it abounds, as well as in most other 
parts of the Union, the maximum height is thirty-five feet, 
while its ordinary elevation is about twenty feet. 
The Dogwood is quite an ornamental small tree, and owes 
its interest chiefly to the beauty of its numerous blossoms 
and fruit. The leaves are oval, about three inches long, 
dark green above, and paler below. In the beginning of 
May, while the foliage is beginning to expand rapidly, and 
before the tree is in full leaf, the flowers unfold, and present 
a beautiful spectacle, often covering the whole tree with their 
snowy garniture. The principal beauty of these, consists in 
the involucrum or calyx, which, instead of being green, as 
is commonly the case, in the Dogwood takes a white or pale 
blue tint. The true flowers may be seen collected in little 
clusters, and are, individually, quite small, though sur- 
rpunded by the involucrum, which produces all the effect of 
a fine white blossom. 
In the early part of the season, the Dogwood is one of 
the gayest ornaments of our native woods. It is seen at 
that time to great advantage in sailing up the Hudson river. 
There, in the abrupt Highlands, which rise boldly many 
hundred feet above the level of the river, patches of the 
Dogwood in full bloom, gleam forth in snowy whiteness 
from among the tender green of the surrounding young 
foliage, and the gloomier shades of the dark evergreens, 
which clothe with a rich verdure the rocks and precipices 
that overhang the moving flood below. 
The berries which succeed these blossoms, become quite 
red and brilliant, in autumn ; and, as they are plentifully 
borne in little clusters, they make quite a display. When 
