Cornus circinata. Round-leaved Dogwood.

Also see: Cornus circinata. Round-leaved Dogwood. - Cornus florida. Dogwood. - Cornus sericea. Swamp Dogwood.

Nat. Ord. — Cornaceae. Sex. Syst. — Tetrandria Monogynia,

The Bark.

Description. — This plant, likewise called Broad-leaved Dogwood, Alder-leaved Dogwood, Round-leaved Cornel, etc., is a shrub growing from six to ten feet high, with straight, slender, greenish and verrucose branches. The leaves are large, about as broad as long, orbicular, or very broadly oval, opposite, acuminate, waved on their edges, somewhat rough above, but lanuginous beneath. The flowers are white, in small, spreading, depressed cymes, without an involucrum. The fruit or berries are a bright blue, becoming lighter colored as they mature, small, soft, hollowed at base, and crowned with the persistent style.

History. — This plant is a native of the United States, growing from Canada to Virginia, on hill-sides and the banks of rivers, and flowering in June and July. The dried bark is usually in quills of a whitish or ash -color, and affords a gray powder, somewhat resembling that of ipecacuanha. Its odor is slight, and its taste bitter, astringent, and somewhat aromatic. It imparts its virtues to water, and in chemical character, has thus far been found analogous with the Cornus Florida.

Properties and Uses. — An astringent tonic, which may be employed in all cases where such agents are indicated. An infusion of it may be made by infusing an ounce of the coarsely-powdered bark in a pint of boiling water, and may be given in doses of one or two fluidounces, several times a day ; it is useful in diarrhea and dysentery, and also as a gargle in sore-throat. One ounce of the bark affords 150 grains of an astringent, intensely bitter extract, which may be used with benefit. The medical virtues of this plant are similar to those of the Cornus Florida, as well as its doses.

The American Eclectic Dispensatory, 1854, was written by John King, M. D.