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What are Dogwoods
| What
are Dogwoods |
| The
genus Cornus (in the wide sense) comprises about 65 species.
The 65 species explains the diversity of the question; what
are dogwoods? The genus has a broad natural range in the northern
hemisphere and extends south to South America and Africa. What
are dogwoods? They have an English name, dogwood, which comes
from the use of the wood for skewers or “dogs”.
However, dogwoods can be shrubs, small trees or even herbaceous
plants. |
What
are dogwoods and what are their fruits? The fruits of 15 species
are red, while they are blue or white in the other species.
The fruit of some, if not all, dogwood species are eatable
and have been used to make jams and alcoholic beverages. Many
of the fruits are highly desirable to birds and animals.
What are
dogwoods and what are their uses? In most cases they are understory
plants that have a tree form. These tree forms are used for
landscaping and specimen plants. The bush or shrub forms vary
greatly. They are used in borders and also along creek banks
to hold soil from erosion. The answers to the question of
what are dogwoods, is as diverse as the 65 or so species that
populate our planet.
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| Botanically,
what are dogwoods can be summarized as follows. Most species
have opposite leaves. The fruit of all species is a drupe
with one or two seeds. The flowers have four parts. Cornus
has been divided into various subgenera, with numbers ranging
from four to nine or more. The four subgenera are: Mesomora,
with alternate leaves, Svida, with opposite leaves, Chamaeperi-
clymenum, subshrubs growing from woody stolons and Cynoxylon,
shrubs and trees, including the flowering dogwood, Cornus
florida.
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