Even more abundant is the SILKY CORNEL, KINNIKINNICK, or SWAMP
DOGWOOD [now SILKY DOGWOOD] (C. amonum; C. sericca of Gray) found
in low, wet ground, and beside streams, from Nebraska to the
Atlantic Ocean, south to Florida and north to New Brunswick. Its
dull-reddish twigs, oval or oblong leaves, rounded at the base
but tapering to a point at the apex, and usually silky-downy with
fine, brownish hairs underneath (to prevent the pores from
clogging with vapors arising from its damp habitat); its rather
compact, flat clusters of white flowers from May to July, and its
bluish berries are its distinguishing features. The Indians loved
to smoke its bark for its alleged tonic effect.
The RED-OSIER CORNEL or DOGWOOD (C. stolonifera), which has
spread, with the help of running shoots, through the soft soil of
its moist retreats, over the British Possessions north of us and
throughout the United States from ocean to ocean, except at the
extreme south, may be known by its bright purplish-red twigs; its
opposite, slender, petioled leaves, rather abruptly pointed at
the apex, roughish on both sides, but white or nearly so beneath;
its small, flat-topped white flower-clusters in June or July; and
finally, by its white or lead-colored fruit.
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