Cornus
(from cornu, a horn; the wood is thought to be as hard and durable as horn). Dogwood. ORD. Cornaceoe. Hardy deciduous trees and shrubs, sometimes low herbs. Flowers sometimes capitate and umbellate, involucrated; sometimes corymbose and panicled, without involucre. Leaves, with few exceptions, opposite entire, sometimes alternate or in whorls. All the woody species are desirable for shrubberies. Many will grow under the drip of trees; this renders them valuable for thickening strips of plantations which have become naked below. They may be readily increased by cuttings, by layers, or by suckers, either of which operations should be performed in autumn. C. canadensis and C. suecica should be grown in sandy peaty soil, in a rather shady situation, on the rockery, or in a border; they may be increased by dividing, when the plants have run considerably at the roots. See also Benthamia.
C. alba (white). A synonym of C. stolonifera.
C. canadensis (Canadian).* Bunch-berry, Dwarf Cornel. fl.purplish-white, umbellate, much shorter than the leaves of the involucre, which are white, ovate, and acuminated. May. l., upper ones in whorls, ovate, acuminated, veiny, on short petioles. Stems simple, herbaceous. h. 6in. North America, 1774. Small herb. (B. M. 880.) C. circinata (round-leaved). Round-leaved Cornel. fl. white; cymes flat. June. fr. spherical, light blue. l. larger than in most other species, round, oval, abruptly-pointed, clothed with hoary tomentum beneath. Branches warted, greenish. h. 5ft. to 10ft. United States, 1784. Shrub (T. S. M. ed. ii. 464.) C. florida (Floridan).* Flowering Dogwood. fl. greenish-yellow, umbellate, rising after the leaves. April. l. ovate, acuminate, pale beneath, and beset with adpressed hairs on both surfaces; bracts of the involucre large, white, roundish, retuse or nearly obcordate. fr. oval. h. 20ft. to 30ft. United States, 1731. This is a beautiful tree; the bark is extremely bitter. (B. M. 527.) C. mas (male).* Cornelian Cherry. fl. yellow, rising before the leaves; umbels about equal in length to the four-leaved involucre.
February to April. l. oval, acuminated, rather pubescent on both surfaces. Branches smoothish. h. 10ft. to 15ft. Europe (Britain excepted), 1599. SYN. C. mascula. (S. F. G. 151.) Of this there is a form (variegata) having leaves variegated with white, and another (elegantissima) in which the foliage is beautifully marked with creamy-white and tinged with red. Both are excellent garden plants.
C. mascula (manly). A synonym of C. mas.
C. oblonga (oblong). fl. white or pale purplish, fragrant; calyx clothed with adpressed silvery hairs, as well as the pedicels and petals; corymbs spreading, panicled. l. oblong, acuminated, acute at the base, glaucous and rather scabrous beneath, with many excavated glands along the axils of the ribs and nerves. h. 10ft. to 15ft. Nepaul, 1818. Tree. C. paniculata (panicled).* fl. white; cymes convex, loose, often panicled; ovary silky. July and August. fr. white. l. ovate acuminated, glabrous, hoary beneath. Branches erect, pale purplish. h. 4ft. to 8ft. United States, 1758. Shrub. (T. S. M. ed. ii., 465.) C. sanguinea (blood-coloured).* Dogberry; common Dogwood. fl. greenish-white, not pleasantly scented; cymes corymbose, ebracteate; petals revolute at the sides. June. Berry small, black. l. ovate, or ovate-oblong, acute, pubescent, 2in. to 3in. long. Branches straight, of a dark red when full grown. h. 6ft. to 8ft. Europe (Britain), North and West Asia, Himalayas. Shrub. Wood used for skewers, formerly for arrows; and by gunpowder makers. The berries yield an oil, used in France for soapmaking. (Sy. En. B. 635.) C. sericea (silky).* fl. white; corymbs depressed, woolly. June and July. Berries pale blue, globose. l. ovate, acuminated, clothed with rusty pubescence beneath. Branches spreading; branchlets woolly. h. 5ft. to 8ft. United States, 1683. (T. S. M. ed. ii., 466.) C. stolonifera (stoloniferous). Red Osier Dogwood. fl. white; cymes small, flat. May. l. ovate, acute, pubescent, hoary beneath. Branches, especially the annual shoots, of a bright red-purple colour; branchlets glabrous. h. 4ft. to 10ft. North America, 1741. SYN. C. alba. There are several varieties of this shrub.
C. stricta (upright).* fl. white; cymes loose, flattish. June. l. ovate, acuminated, glabrous, green on both surfaces. Branches straight, fastigiate, reddish-brown. h. 8ft. to 15ft. United States, 1758. Shrub. There is a form having leaves variegated with white or yellow.
S. suecica (Swedish).* fl. dark purple, in terminal umbels, supported by four white bracts, which finally turn green. June. Berries red, sweetish. l. opposite, sessile, ovate. h. 6in. North and Arctic Europe (Britain), Asia, and North America.