Hungry winter birds, which bolt the red
fruit only when they can get no choicer fare, distribute the
smooth, indigestible stones far and wide.
When the Massachusetts farmers think they hear the first brown
thrasher in April advising them to plant their Indian corn,
reassuringly calling, "Drop it, drop it - cover it up, cover it
up - pull it up, pull it up, pull it up" (Thoreau), they look to
the dogwood flowers to confirm the thrasher's advice before
taking it.
The LOW or DWARF CORNEL, or BUNCHBERRY (C. canadensus) whose
scaly stem does its best to attain a height of nine inches, bears
a whorl of from four to six oval, pointed, smooth leaves at the
summit. From the midst of this whorl comes a cluster of minute
greenish florets, encircled by four to six large, showy, white
petal-like bracts, quite like a small edition of the flowering
dogwood blossom. Tight clusters of round berries, that are lifted
upward on a gradually lengthened peduncle after the flowers fade
(May-July), brighten with vivid touches of scarlet shadowy, mossy
places in cool, rich woods, where the dwarf cornels, with the
partridge vine, twin flower, gold thread, and fern, form the most
charming of carpets.
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