CORNACEÆ. DOGWOOD FAMILY.
Cornus florida, L.
Flowering Dogwood. Boxwood.
Habitat and Range.—Woodlands, rocky hillsides, moist, gravelly ridges.
Provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
Maine,—Fayette Ridge, Kennebec county; New Hampshire,—along the Atlantic coast and very near the Connecticut river, rarely farther north than its junction with the West river; Vermont,—southern and southwestern sections, rare; Massachusetts,—occasional throughout the state, common in the Connecticut river valley, frequent eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,—common.
South to Florida; west to Minnesota and Texas.
Habit.—A small tree, 15-30 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 6-10 inches. The spreading branches form an open, roundish head, the young twigs curving upwards at their extremities. In spring, when decked with its abundant, showy white blossoms, it is the fairest of the minor trees of the forest; in autumn, scarcely less beautiful in the rich reds of its foliage and fruit.
Bark.—Bark of trunk in old trees blackish, broken-ridged, rough, often separating into small, firm, 4-angled or roundish plates; branches grayish, streaked with white lines; season's twigs purplish-green, downy; taste bitter.