The different species of Cornel abound in all places occupied by the
viburnum, to which they bear a superficial resemblance, though the two
genera are not allied. They are graceful and rather prim-looking shrubs,
having a hard and close-grained wood, and containing in their bark a
large proportion of the bitter principle of the cinchona. Their leaves
and branches are opposite, which increases their resemblance to the
viburnum. They are very abundant in the Northern States; and it is
remarkable that the different species might be distinguished by the
colors of their fruit. The Florida Cornel, called the Flowering Dogwood,
bears scarlet berries; there is also a purple-fruited Cornel, a
white-fruited and two blue-fruited species, one leaden-colored, and in
Canada a species with dark brown berries.
It is seldom that the species of any genus of plants differ in the
opposite or alternate characters of the leaves and branches. But the
purple-fruited Cornel is called alternate-leaved, to distinguish it from
the other species. It is not, however, a genuine exception; for the
leaves come out around the stem, not in a true alternate arrangement,
but in imperfect whorls, and mixed with some that are opposite. The
flowers are small, in irregular cymes; the fruit of a dark purple. It is
found in swamps and low moist woods, and, with the other species,
constitutes a fair proportion of the underwood of our deciduous forests.
The white-fruited Cornel is very frequent by waysides, rising a little
above our loose stone-walls. This seems to be the most abundant species
outside of the woods in the vicinity of Boston. Its flowers are white
and rather inconspicuous, and are succeeded by clusters of pearly white
berries. The blue-fruited Cornel, or red osier, is remarkable for its
colored branches and large round leaves with an acuminate termination.
The blue fruit of this species is very ornamental, and it is
distinguished after the fall of the leaf by its bright red stems and
branches. The Cornel is hardly less important than the viburnum in
adding variety to our wood-scenery at all seasons.
By far the most interesting and beautiful species of the genus is the
Florida Cornel, so called from its abundance in the forests on the
American side of the Gulf of Mexico. In all that region, the woods 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. The flowers are
borne in semiglobular heads, enclosed in a large spreading involucre,
which is often mistaken for the corolla, the florets within resembling
superficially a collection of stamens. About the first of June, in New
England, these trees are very attractive, seeming like masses of pure
white inflorescence. In the North it does not constitute the principal
growth of any wood; but it is admired by all when they see it scattered
among the greenery, and admired the more from its infrequency in this
region.
The small branches are greenish, striated with longitudinal and
irregular white lines. The leaves are two or three inches long, oval,
and of middle size. The flowers appear on the ends of the branches,
included in an involucre consisting of four divisions. The head of
florets thus enclosed ripens into a bunch of bright scarlet berries,
surrounded by a dark purple calyx. In the autumn all the species turn to
different shades of red and purple.
The little dwarf Cornel, though an herbaceous plant, deserves mention in
connection with the other species. It may be compared to a flower cut
off with a single whorl of leaves, and then inserted into 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 examination no resemblance is apparent. The
flowers are very showy and attractive in the wild pastures and woods,
and produce in the autumn a round and compact cluster of scarlet
berries, which are said to be pleasant and wholesome, but rather
insipid. In winter they are the food of many species of birds.
[Illustration: THE SUMACH.]