Cornus

Cornus is the Latin word for the cornel tree, Cornus mas.

The name cornel dates to the 1550s, via German from Middle Latin cornolium, ultimately from the diminutive cornuculum, of cornum, the Latin word for the cornel cherry. Cornus means "horn",Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9780521866453}} (hardback), {{ISBN|9780521685535}} (paperback). pp 121

presumably applied to the cherry after the example of κερασός, the Greek word for "cherry", which itself is of pre-Greek origin but reminiscent of κέρας, the Greek word for "horn".

The name "dog-tree" entered the English vocabulary before 1548, becoming "dogwood" by 1614. Once the name dogwood was affixed to this kind of tree, it soon acquired a secondary name as the hound's tree, while the fruits came to be known as "dogberries" or "houndberries" (the latter a name also for the berries of black nightshade, alluding to Hecate's hounds).{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The name was explained, from as early as the 16th century itself, as derived from dag "skewer",Vedel, H., & Lange, J. (1960). Trees and Bushes in Wood and Hedgerow. Metheun & Co. Ltd., London.{{cite book|last=Fernald|first=Merritt Lyndon|title=Gray's Manual of Botany|url=https://archive.org/details/graysmanualofbot00gray|url-access=registration|edition=8th|year=1950|publisher=American Book Company|location=New York}} as the wood of the tree was said to have been used to make butcher's skewers. This is uncertain, as the form *dagwood was never attested. It is also possible that the tree was named for its berry, called dogberry from at least the 1550s, where the implication could be that the quality of the berry is inferior, as it were "fit for a dog"."the first element sometimes said to have been perhaps dag — compare dagger and dag (v.) "to pierce or stab" (1630s, perhaps 15c.). The trees have hard, white wood that was said to have been used in making butchers' skewers; another name for it was skewer-wood. This explanation is as old as the word itself in English, but the form *dagwood is not attested. Another guess is that the tree was given the name in reference to its fruit, which was called dogberry from 1550s, and dog (n.) had implications of "cheap, inferior" (i.e. "fit for a dog")."

{{cite web |title=dogwood |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Douglas Harper |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/dogwood }}

File:2016-05-08 1452 Cherokee Princess dogwood.png

An older name of the dogwood in English is whipple-tree, occurring in a list of trees (as whipultre) in Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales. ook, firre, birch, asp, alder, holm, popler / wilow, elm, plane, ash, box, chasteyn, lind, laurer / mapul, thorn, beech, hasel, ew, whipultre "The Knight's Tale", verse 2065

This name is cognate with the Middle Low German wipel-bom "cornel", Dutch wepe, weype "cornel" (the wh- in Chaucer is unetymological, the word would have been Middle English wipel). The tree was so named for waving its branches, cf. Middle Dutch wepelen "totter, waver", Frisian wepeln, German wippen.Walter William Skeat, A Student's Pastime: Being a Select Series of Articles Reprinted from "Notes and Queries", Clarendon Press, 1896, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wVdRi0b8gqwC&pg=PA252 p. 252].

The name whippletree, also whiffle-tree, now refers to an element of the traction of a horse-drawn cart linking the draw pole of the cart to the harnesses of the horses in file. In this sense it is first recorded in 1733. This mechanism was usually made from oak or ash (and not from dogwood), and it is unlikely that there is a connection to the name for whipple-tree for Cornus.William Shepard Walsh et al. (eds.), American Notes and Queries vol. 5 (1890) p. 118

Dogwoods have simple, untoothed leaves with the veins curving distinctively as they approach the leaf margins. Most dogwood species have opposite leaves, while a few, such as Cornus alternifolia and C. controversa, have their leaves alternate. Dogwood flowers have four parts. In many species, the flowers are borne separately in open (but often dense) clusters, while in various other species (such as the flowering dogwood), the flowers themselves are tightly clustered, lacking showy petals, but surrounded by four to six large, typically white petal-like bracts.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The fruits of all dogwood species are drupes with one or two seeds, often brightly colorful. The drupes of species in the subgenus Cornus are edible. Many are without much flavor. Cornus kousa and Cornus mas are sold commercially as edible fruit trees. The fruits of Cornus kousa have a sweet, tropical pudding like flavor in addition to hard pits. The fruits of Cornus mas are both tart and sweet when completely ripe. They have been eaten in Eastern Europe for centuries, both as food and medicine to fight colds and flus. They are very high in vitamin C. By contrast, the fruits of species in subgenus Swida are mildly toxic to people, though readily eaten by birds.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Dogwoods are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of butterflies and moths, including the emperor moth, the engrailed, the small angle shades, and the following case-bearers of the genus Coleophora: C. ahenella, C. salicivorella (recorded on Cornus canadensis), C. albiantennaella, C. cornella and C. cornivorella, with the latter three all feeding exclusively on Cornus.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Dogwoods are widely planted horticulturally, and the dense wood of the larger-stemmed species is valued for certain specialized purposes. Cutting boards and fine turnings can be made from this fine grained and beautiful wood. Over 32 different varieties of game birds, including quail, feed on the red seeds.{{cite web|title=Wildlife Dogwood Trees|url=http://www.preppergarden.biz/Dogwood-Trees-for-Preppers-p/wld-dogwood.htm|publisher=Prepper Gardens|access-date=January 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116024043/http://www.preppergarden.biz/Dogwood-Trees-for-Preppers-p/wld-dogwood.htm|archive-date=2013-11-16|url-status=dead}}

Various species of Cornus, particularly the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), are ubiquitous in American gardens and landscaping; horticulturist Donald Wyman stated, "There is a dogwood for almost every part of the U.S. except the hottest and driest areas".Wyman's Garden Encyclopedia, s.v. "Cornus" In contrast, in Northwest Europe the lack of sharp winters and hot summers makes Cornus florida very shy of flowering.Alice M. Coats, Garden Shrubs and their Histories (1964) 1992, s.v. "Cornus".

Other Cornus species are stoloniferous shrubs that grow naturally in wet habitats and along waterways. Several of these are used along highways and in naturalizing landscape plantings, especially those species with bright red or bright yellow stems, particularly conspicuous in winter, such as Cornus stolonifera.

The following cultivars, of mixed or uncertain origin, have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017):{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 16 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 24 January 2018}}

• 'Eddie's White Wonder'{{cite web

| url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/94390/i-Cornus-i-Eddie-s-White-Wonder/Details

| title = RHS Plantfinder - Cornus 'Eddie's White Wonder'

| access-date=2 February 2018}}

• 'Norman Hadden'{{cite web

| url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/30663/i-Cornus-i-Norman-Hadden/Details

| title = RHS Plantfinder - Cornus 'Norman Hadden'

| access-date=2 February 2018}}

• 'Ormonde'{{cite web

| url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/30654/i-Cornus-i-Ormonde/Details

| title = RHS Plantfinder - Cornus 'Ormonde'

| access-date=2 February 2018}}

• 'Porlock'{{cite web

| url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/103072/i-Cornus-i-Porlock/Details

| title = RHS Plantfinder - Cornus 'Porlock'

| access-date=2 February 2018}}

The species Cornus mas is commonly cultivated in southeastern Europe for its showy, edible berries, that have the color of the carnelian gemstone. Cornelian-cherries have one seed each and are used in syrups and preserves.{{cite web|url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c290|title=Cornus mas - Plant Finder|website=www.missouribotanicalgarden.org}}

Dense and fine-grained, dogwood timber has a density of 0.79 and is highly prized for making loom shuttles, tool handles, roller skates and other small items that require a very hard and strong wood."Dogwood." McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Credo Reference. Web. 17 September 2012. Though it is tough for woodworking, some artisans favor dogwood for small projects such as walking canes, arrow making, mountain dulcimers and fine inlays. Dogwood wood is an excellent substitute for persimmon wood in the heads of certain golf clubs ("woods"). Dogwood lumber is rare in that it is not readily available with any manufacturer and must be cut down by the person(s) wanting to use it.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Larger items have also been occasionally made of dogwood, such as the screw-in basket-style wine or fruit presses. The first kinds of laminated tennis rackets were also made from this wood, cut into thin strips.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Dogwood twigs were used by U.S. pioneers to brush their teeth. They would peel off the bark, bite the twig and then scrub their teeth.{{Cite book|title=Gunn's Domestic Medicine|publisher=John M. Gallagher, printer|last=Gunn|first=John C.|page=[https://archive.org/details/9506665.nlm.nih.gov/page/n526 523]|year=1835|edition=4th |url=https://archive.org/details/9506665.nlm.nih.gov}}

The bark of Cornus species is rich in tannins and has been used in traditional medicine as a substitute for quinine.{{clarify|date=April 2016}}"Dogwood or cornel." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 17 September 2012.

The Japanese cornel, C. officinalis, is used in traditional Chinese medicine as shān zhū yú for several minor ailments.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wb_OGEz3Ts4C | title=The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm: A Cultivator's Guide to Small-scale Organic Herb Production | publisher=Chelsea Green Publishing | author=Schafer, Peg | year=2011 | pages=312 (page 150) | isbn=9781603583305}}

The following classification recognizes a single, inclusive genus Cornus,{{cite journal |author=Richard H. Eyde |year=1987 |title=The case for keeping Cornus in the broad Linnaean sense |journal=Systematic Botany |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=505–518 |jstor=2418886|doi=10.2307/2418886 }}{{cite journal |author=Richard H. Eyde |year=1988 |title=Comprehending Cornus: puzzles and progress in the systematics of the dogwoods |journal=Botanical Review |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=233–351 |jstor=4354115 |doi=10.1007/bf02868985|bibcode=1988BotRv..54..233E |s2cid=12507834 }} with four subgroups and ten subgenera supported by molecular phylogeny.{{Cite journal|title = Phylogenetic relationships within Cornus (Cornaceae) based on 26S rDNA sequences.|last1 = Fan|first1 = Chuanzhu|date = 2001|journal = American Journal of Botany|pmid = 11410478|last2 = Xiang|first2 = Qiu-Yun|issue = 6|volume = 88|pages = 1131–1138|doi=10.2307/2657096|jstor = 2657096|doi-access = free}}{{Cite journal|url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233647099|title = Species level phylogeny of the genus Cornus (Cornaceae) based on molecular and morphological evidence—implications for taxonomy and Tertiary intercontinental migration.|last1 = Zhiang|first1 = Qiu-Yun|date = 2006|journal = Taxon|access-date = 29 January 2016|volume = 55|issue = 1|last2 = Thomas|first2 = David T.|last3 = Zhang|last4 = Manchester|last5 = Murrell|first3 = Wenheng|first4 = Steven R.|first5 = Zack}}{{Cite journal|last1=Nowicki|first1=Marcin|last2=Boggess|first2=Sarah L.|last3=Saxton|first3=Arnold M.|last4=Hadziabdic|first4=Denita|last5=Xiang|first5=Qiu-Yun Jenny|last6=Molnar|first6=Thomas|last7=Huff|first7=Matthew L.|last8=Staton|first8=Margaret E.|last9=Zhao|first9=Yichen|date=2018-10-23|editor-last=Heinze|editor-first=Berthold|title=Haplotyping of Cornus florida and C. kousa chloroplasts: Insights into species-level differences and patterns of plastic DNA variation in cultivars|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=13|issue=10|pages=e0205407|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0205407|issn=1932-6203|pmc=6198962|pmid=30352068|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1305407N|doi-access=free}} Geographical ranges as native plants are given below. In addition, cultivated species occasionally persist or spread from plantings beyond their native ranges, but are rarely if ever locally invasive.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}

Paniculate or corymbose cymes; bracts minute, nonmodified; fruits globose or subglobose, white, blue, or black:

• {{anchor|Subgenus Yinquania}} Subgenus Yinquania. Leaves opposite to subopposite; fall blooming.
• Cornus oblonga. East Asia from Pakistan through the Himalayas and China.{{cite web| url=https://pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cornus+oblonga|title= Cornus oblonga - Wall.|author=|website=Plants For A Future|date=|access-date=February 9, 2022}}
• Cornus peruviana. Costa Rica and Venezuela to Bolivia.{{cite web|title = Tropicos {{!}} Name - Cornus peruviana J.F. Macbr.|url = http://www.tropicos.org/Name/8700026|website = www.tropicos.org|access-date = 2016-01-29}}{{Cite book|title = Flora of Peru|last = Macbride|first = J.F.|publisher = Field Museum|year = 1959|pages = 44–45|volume = 13 pt.5 no.1|chapter = Cornaceae|url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2372788#page/52/mode/1up}}
• {{anchor|Subgenus Kraniopsis}} Subgenus Kraniopsis. Leaves opposite; summer blooming.
• Cornus alba{{refn|Cornus sericea, treated separately here, is sometimes included in a more broadly taken concept of Cornus alba, which in that sense is also native in North America.|group=Note}} (Siberian dogwood). Siberia and northern China.
• Cornus amomum{{refn|Cornus obliqua, here recognized separately, has been included in a broader concept of C. amomum by some botanists. Canadian reports for C. amomum are apparently all based on plants here classified as C. obliqua.|group=Note}} (silky dogwood). Eastern U.S. east of the Great Plains except for the Deep South.
• Cornus asperifolia (toughleaf dogwood). Southeastern U.S.
• Cornus austrosinensis (South China dogwood). East Asia.
• Cornus bretschneideri (Bretschneider's dogwood). Northern China.
• Cornus coreana (Korean dogwood). Northeast Asia.
• Cornus drummondii (roughleaf dogwood). U.S. between the Appalachia and the Great Plains, and southern Ontario, Canada.
• Cornus excelsa. Mexico to Honduras.
• Cornus foemina (stiff dogwood) Southeastern and southern United States.
• Cornus glabrata (brown dogwood or smooth dogwood). Western North America.
• Cornus hemsleyi (Hemsley's dogwood). Southwest China.
• Cornus koehneana (Koehne's dogwood). Southwest China.
• Cornus macrophylla (large-leafed dogwood; {{zh|c=棶木|p=láimù}}). East Asia.
• Cornus obliqua{{refn|Cornus obliqua is sometimes included in a more broadly taken concept of C. amomum, also in the eastern U.S.|group=Note}} (pale dogwood). Northeastern and central U.S., and southeastern Canada.
• Cornus paucinervis. China.
• Cornus racemosa (northern swamp dogwood or gray dogwood). Northeastern and central U.S., and extreme southeastern Canada.
• Cornus rugosa (round-leaf dogwood). Northeastern and north-central U.S., and southeastern Canada.
• Cornus sanguinea (common dogwood). Europe.
• Cornus sericea{{refn|Cornus sericea (including C. stolonifera) is sometimes itself included in a more broadly taken concept of the otherwise Eurasian Cornus alba.|group=Note}} (red osier dogwood). Northern and western North America, except Arctic regions.
• Cornus walteri (Walter's dogwood). Central China.
• Cornus wilsoniana (ghost dogwood). China.
• Cornus × arnoldiana (Hybrid: C. obliqua × C. racemosa). Eastern North America.
• {{anchor|Subgenus Mesomora}} Subgenus Mesomora. Leaves alternate; summer blooming.
• Cornus alternifolia (pagoda dogwood or alternate-leaf dogwood). Eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada.
• Cornus controversa (table dogwood). East Asia.

Umbellate cymes; bracts modified, non-petaloid; fruits oblong, red; stone walls filled with cavities:

• {{anchor|Subgenus Afrocrania}} Subgenus Afrocrania. Dioecious, bracts 4.
• Cornus volkensii. Afromontane eastern Africa.
• {{anchor|subgenus_cornus|Subgenus Cornus}} Subgenus Cornus. Plants hermaphroditic, bracts 4 or 6
• Cornus eydeana. Yunnan in China
• Cornus mas (European cornel or Cornelian-cherry). Mediterranean.
• Cornus officinalis (Japanese cornel). China, Japan, Korea.
• {{extinct}}Cornus piggae (Late Paleocene, North Dakota){{Cite FTP |last1=Manchester |first1=S.R. |last2=Xiang |first2=X-P. |last3=Xiang |first3=Q-Y |year=2010 |title=Fruits of Cornelian Cherries (Cornaceae: Cornus Subg. Cornus) in the Paleocene and Eocene of the Northern Hemisphere |volume=171 |issue=8 |pages=882–891 |url=ftp://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/Projects/PaleobotanyWyoFieldtripReadings/ManchesterReprints/2010%20Cornelian%20Cherries%20%20Cornus.pdf |doi=10.1086/655771 |server=International Journal of Plant Sciences |url-status=dead |s2cid=83524109 }}
• Cornus sessilis (blackfruit cornel). California.
• {{anchor|Subgenus Sinocornus}} Subgenus Sinocornus. Plants hermaphroditic, bracts 4 or 6
• Cornus chinensis (Chinese cornel). China.

Capitular cymes:

• {{anchor|Subgenus Discocrania}} Subgenus Discocrania. Bracts 4, modified, non-petaloid; fruits oblong, red.
• Cornus disciflora. Mexico and Central America
• {{anchor|Subgenus Cynoxylon}} Subgenus Cynoxylon. Bracts 4 or 6, large and petaloid, fruits oblong, red.
• Cornus florida (flowering dogwood). U.S. east of the Great Plains, north to southern Ontario.
• Cornus nuttallii (Pacific dogwood). Western North America, from British Columbia to California.
• {{anchor|Subgenus Syncarpea}} Subgenus Syncarpea. Bracts 4, large and petaloid, fruits red, fused into a compound multi-stoned berry.
• Cornus capitata (Himalayan flowering dogwood). Himalaya.
• Cornus hongkongensis (Hong Kong dogwood). Southern China, Laos, Vietnam.
• Cornus kousa (Kousa dogwood). Japan and (as subsp. chinensis) central and northern China.
• Cornus multinervosa. Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China

Minute corymbose cymes; bracts 4, petaloid; fruit globose, red; rhizomatous herb:

• {{anchor|Subgenus Arctocrania}} Subgenus Arctocrania.
• Cornus canadensis (Canadian dwarf cornel or bunchberry) Northern North America, southward in the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains.
• Cornus suecica (Eurasian dwarf cornel or bunchberry). Northern Eurasia, locally in extreme northeast and northwest North America.
• Cornus × unalaschkensis (Hybrid: C. canadensis × C. suecica). Aleutian Islands (Alaska), Greenland, and Labrador and Newfoundland in Canada.
• Cornus wardiana (Evergreen dwarf cornel or bunchberry). Northern Myanmar.

• {{extinct}}Cornus clarnensis (Middle Eocene, Central Oregon){{Cite journal |last1=Manchester |first1=S.R. |title=Fruits and Seeds of the Middle Eocene Nut Beds Flora, Clarno Formation, Oregon |year=1994 |journal=Palaeontographica Americana |volume=58 |pages=30–31}}

Cornus × rutgersensis (Hybrid: C. florida × C. kousa). Horticulturally developed.{{cite web|title=Cornus florida × Cornus kousa |url=http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/corut.htm|work=Landscape Plants: Images, identification, and information|publisher=Oregon State University|access-date=20 May 2011}}

The inflorescence of the Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) is the official flower of the province of British Columbia. The flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and its inflorescence are the state tree and the state flower respectively for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. It is also the state tree of Missouri and the state flower of North Carolina,{{cite web|url=https://www.teleflora.com/floral-facts/what-is-my-state-flower|title=Find Official State Flower for USA | Teleflora|website=www.teleflora.com}} and the state memorial tree of New Jersey.{{cite web|url=https://statesymbolsusa.org/categories/state-tree|title=List of State Trees | State Symbols USA|website=statesymbolsusa.org|date=23 April 2014 }} The term "dogwood winter", in colloquial use in the American Southeast, especially Appalachia,{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Mary Tom |date=2021-03-31 |title=The Six Little Winters of Tennessee |url=https://visitclevelandtn.com/the-six-little-winters-of-tennessee/ |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=Visit Cleveland TN |language=en-US}} is sometimes used to describe a cold snap in spring, presumably because farmers believed it was not safe to plant their crops until after the dogwoods blossomed.{{Cite web |url=http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/2011/04/25/what-is-dogwood-winter/ |title=What is Dogwood Winter? | Farmers' Almanac |access-date=2011-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503013908/http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/2011/04/25/what-is-dogwood-winter/ |archive-date=2011-05-03 |url-status=dead }}

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{{Commons}}

{{Wikispecies}}

• [http://www.naturessecretlarder.co.uk/wild-food-useful-plants/dogwood-cornus-sanguinea.htm Dogwood history and uses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175459/http://www.naturessecretlarder.co.uk/wild-food-useful-plants/dogwood-cornus-sanguinea.htm |date=2016-03-03 }}
• [http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/PDF/PDF14/Cornus.pdf Cornus in Flora of China]

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Category:Cornales genera

Category:Extant Campanian first appearances

Category:Plants used in bonsai