The confusion existing in some minds between the flowering dogwood of the woods and the poison dogwood of the swamps casts an undeserved shadow over the name of the former. If the poison dogwood were always called poison sumac and the _Cornus florida_, flowering cornel, this unfortunate confusion would soon end. The wood is strong, hard, and close-grained, and takes polish exceedingly well. It is used in turnery, for the handles of tools, and occasionally for engravers’ blocks. The bark is bitter and is used as an astringent and tonic, especially in the treatment of fevers. The Indians made a scarlet dye from the bark of the roots. The generic name comes from the Latin _cornus_, a horn, and refers to the hardness of the wood, and the specific name, _florida_ (abounding in blossoms), alludes to the remarkable white flowers of this cornel, which open in June. The flowering dogwood is found from Eastern Massachusetts to Central Florida and westward, and grows under large trees in rich woods. The _Moracæ_ are a small family with but one native representative in the North, the red mulberry. The white mulberry from China has been so widely cultivated and naturalized in the United States, that it is seen more commonly than the native species. [Illustration: RED MULBERRY _Morus rubra_ Page 123 ] [Sidenote: Red Mulberry _Morus rubra_] _A small tree, 15 to 60 feet high. The bark is rough, with long furrows. The twigs are a light greenish brown and the leaf-scars are oval, hollow, and alternate in arrangement. The bundle-scars form a closed chain around the leaf-scar. A milky juice comes if the stems are cut on warm days in winter. Very smooth buds._ The red mulberry is not particularly attractive in winter. In open situations its branches are wide spreading without being graceful, and it is broadly erect in shape without being stately. It grows to be a much larger tree in the South than it does in the North. The wood is soft and light, but very durable, and it is used for fences and cooperage, and in the South for boat-building. The fruit is edible, with an agreeable acid flavor. The generic name, _Morus_, is probably derived from the Celtic word _mor_, meaning black, in reference to the color of the fruit. The specific name, _rubra_, is given to this species because the mulberries are dark red instead of white, like those of _Morus alba_. The red mulberry is found growing wild in Western Massachusetts, south to Florida and westward. It is frequently planted in gardens for its fruit. [Sidenote: White Mulberry _Morus alba_] _A small tree, with a rough bark, small, round brown buds, and small projecting alternate leaf-scars with clearly defined bundle-scars. The buds are smaller and more rounded than those of the red mulberry. It is easily distinguished from the red mulberry by its more numerous and slender shoots._