Dogwood

Most species have opposite leaves, and only a few have alternate leaves .

The fruits of all species are drupes with one or two seeds . The fruits ripen from August to October.

Four- part flowers .

Many species of the Swida subgenus are stoloniferous shrubs. Many of them are used in decorative gardening , especially those that have a bright red or bright yellow color of the shoot bark .

Most species of the Benthamidia subgenus are small trees that are widely used in park building because of their beauty and elegance.

The fruits of some species of the subgenus Cornus and Benthamidia are edible (the fruits of dogwood have a pleasant aroma, sweet and sour, astringent, astringent taste; they are used in the food industry); in the subgenus Swida, they are moderately toxic to humans (although they are readily eaten by birds).

Dogwood feeds on the larvae of some Lepidoptera , including Eudia pavonia , Ectropis crepuscularia , Euplexia lucipara , and Coleophoridae ( Coleophora ahenella , Coleophora salicivorella (recorded on Cornus canadensis), Coleophora albiantophorella cornella , )

In ancient times, dogwood was used by American first settlers to brush teeth.

Dogwood wood was highly regarded for the production of shuttles for looms, arrows , door handles and other small gizmos that require very hard wood. Dogwood press screws for squeezing grape and fruit juice , tennis rackets , and hammer handles were also made from cornel wood.

The dogwood flower of Nuttall, or Pacific, is the official flower of the Canadian province of British Columbia .

Blooming dogwood and its flower is the official tree of the states of Virginia and Missouri and the official flower of the states of Virginia and North Carolina .

English language

The English name dogwood is derived from English. dagwood and is associated with the use of dogwood with its very hardwood for the manufacture of English. dags - wooden daggers ^[5] .

Name English Dog-Tree was first included in the English dictionary in 1548, then transformed into Dogwood in 1614. This name refers to the tree itself, then acquired a different logical coloring: English. Hound's Tree , a dog tree , as the fruits became known as English. dogberries , or English. houndberries - dog berries .

It is possible that the common name Dogwood was due to the fact that dogs scratched their sides about them.

Another name is English. blood-twig , bloody shoot , is given in red, which shoots acquire in the fall.

In botanical and colloquial speech, the name is English. dogwood winter - dogwood , or dogwood winter - can be used to describe the return frosts in early spring, during the flowering season of dogwood.

Russian language

The more common name in modern Russian is borrowed from the Turkic word kyzyl, meaning "red." Also for this genus of plants has its own Russian name - "Doeren" ^[6] .

According to the database of The Plant List , the genus includes 51 species ^[7] :

There is a Christian legend (of unknown origin) that the Holy Cross was made of dogwood ^[8] . Allegedly, at the time of Christ, dogwoods were larger than now - the largest trees in the Jerusalem area. However, after the Crucifixion, Christ changed the plant to its current state: it became lower, its branches hung so that it could no longer be used for crucifixes. Christ also changed his flower to resemble the Cross, with four cross-lying petals that represent the four rays of the Cross, thorns - nails with which Christ was nailed, red stamens of flowers - a crown of thorns , and red fruits - his blood .

In the Muslim East, the legend of the devil and dogwood existed in different versions.

1. The devil persuaded the dogwood tree to bloom for a long time, and when it yielded to its persuasion, it bloomed, it turned out that spring had just begun and not a single tree was covered with flowers for fear of frost (in the Caucasus, the dogwood tree blooms before other fruit trees). Hence the saying: "How the devil does not depart from the cornel tree" ^[9]

2. When Allah created the world, he went to rest, and a blessed spring came on earth. The buds began to bloom, the trees turned green, flowers began to appear. There was a lot of noise. This one will grab one, that pulls another, quarrel among themselves, swear. Allah could not stand it, woke up and began to restore order. First of all, I called everyone to me and said this: “My foolish children! You spoil all the gardens. I command each of you to choose a plant in order to continue to use it only. ” What started here! Who asks for cherry, who is apple tree, who is peach. He went to Allah and Shaitan .

“And what did you choose?” Allah asked. - Dogwood. - Why dogwood? “So,” Shaitan did not want to tell the truth. “All right, take a dogwood,” Allah said.

Shaitan jumped happily, if only he deftly outwitted everyone by asking for a dogwood. Dogwood is the first to bloom, which means it will yield a crop before other plants. And the first berry, as you know, is the most expensive. But then the summer came, the fruits of cherries, cherries, apple trees, pears, peaches began to ripen. And the dogwood is still not mature and still remained solid and green. Shaitan sits under a tree, angry: "Yes, ripen soon, shaitan berry!". Dogwood does not ripen. Then Shaitan began to blow on the berries, and they turned red-red, like a flame, but, as before, remained hard and sour.

- Well, how is your dogwood? People asked Shaitan. - Muck, not berries, take them for yourself.

In late autumn, when the harvest in the gardens was already harvested, people went into the forest for dogwood. Gathering tasty, ripe berries, they chuckled at Shaitan: “The Shaitan miscalculated!” And the Shaitan, meanwhile, was furious with anger and thought about how to take revenge on people. And came up with. The following fall, he made the dogwood double twice as much. But in order for it to mature, it was necessary and twice as much heat. The people rejoiced at the great harvest, not suspecting that these were the tricks of Shaitan. And the sun was exhausted over the summer and could not send enough heat to the earth. And such a harsh winter came that all the gardens froze, and the people remained a little alive. Since then, there has been a sign: if the big dogwood crop is to be a cold winter. ^[ten]

• Kazarova S. The modest charm of dogwood // Floriculture: journal. - 2008. - No. 5 . - S. 37-39 .
• Shatko V. Kizil // In the world of plants: a journal. - 2003. - No. 4 .

• Dogwood on the USDA NRCS website