DOGWOOD, or DOGBERRY, the name usually given to some of the arboreous and shrubby species of the genus C0171118. See COENEL. The common D. of Europe (C. sanguinea), a native of Britain and many parts of the continent, and also of the n. of Africa, is a shrub of 4 to 15 ft. in height, with ovate leaves, and terminal cymes of greenish-white flowers, which have an unpleasant odor. The leaves become of an intense dark-red color before they drop off in autumn. The wood makes the very best charcoal for gunpowder. It is very hard, and is made into skewers for butchers and cooks, and into cogs for wheels. The young wood was, in former times, in request for the making of arrows. The fruit, which is small, dark purple, and very bitter, yields an oil said to be equal to that of the olive, and to the amount of 34 per cent of its weight. This oil is used in France for lamps, and for the manufacture of soap. The D. of North America (C. florida) is a small tree, found in the United States, from lat. 43° to Florida, with oval leaves, and small yellowish flowers, which are surrounded by large white roundish bracts. The berries are red, and remain on the tree most of the winter. The
flowers appear before the leaves, and their large white bracts are amongst the ornaments of the American woods in spring. The tree attains a height of 20 to 30 ft., with a trunk 8 or 10 in. in diameter. The wood is white, hard, fine-grained, much esteemed and used for inlaying and ornamental work. The bark is successfully employed in the cure of intermittent fevers. It is also a valuable tonic. It is one of the most valuable med icinal products of North America. The barks of several other North American species of cornus possess similar properties. JAMAICA D. is piscielia erythrina, of the natural order kguminosce, suborder papilionaceoe, a good timber-tree, with hard and resinous wood, which lasts well either in or out of water; the bark of the root powerfully narcotic, used for stupefying fish, and also for relieving toothache, being applied to the tooth in the form of a saturated tincture, or taken into the stomach as a powerful sudorific.