FLOWERING Douwoon (Cornus Florida, Linn.). 15 to 40 feet. Small, flat-topped, bushy, irregular tree, with angular, spreading twigs, set with conical, flattened flower buds, en closed in four leathery protecting scales. Bark gray or brown, checked by deep furrows into small, irregular plates, like alligator skin. Wood fine-grained, hard, heavy, brown, tough, used for hubs, tool-handles, engraving blocks. Leaves oppo site, obovate, simple, 3 to 5 inches long, strongly veined, grooved above, shiny surface, green, turning to red in autumn.
Flowers in terminal clusters, March to May, perfect, small; the four scales of the bud spread and bleach, forming the showy, white bracts, often miscalled "petals." Fruit 4-seeded, fleshy, red berries, in erect clusters. Dist.: Massachusetts to Flor ida; west to Michigan, Missouri, and Texas.