Dogwood is a perennial fruit plant from the Cornelian family. The habitat covers Eastern and Southern Europe, the Caucasus, Japan, China and Asia Minor. The word "dogwood" takes its roots in the Turkic language and translates as "red". That is the color of delicious and even healing berries. There are several legends about dogwood. According to one of them, Allah handed out to all creatures a plant and the shaitan got dogwood. However, the fruits of the tree were so long unripe and bitter that the shaitan threw the tree away, spitting on it. Soon the berries darkened and people delightedly enjoyed their taste. In culture, the plant has been used for a long time. It was known in ancient Rome.
Botanical characteristics
Dogwood is a perennial plant that can live up to 100 years. It is a deciduous lignified shrub or tree up to 9 m high. Occasionally, evergreen herbaceous plants are found in the genus. Thin fibrous rhizome is located mainly in the upper layers of the soil. Smooth stems are covered with red-brown bark. Young, they easily slope to the ground, and when in contact with the soil they take root.
Short-leaved leaves grow opposite, only sometimes alternately. They have an oval or ovoid plate with relief parallel veins. The foliage is green or dark green. The sides are solid, the edge is pointed.
Already at the end of March, before the leaves appear, yellowish or milky-white flowers bloom. They are collected in dense inflorescences of about 5 cm in diameter, which last 2-3 weeks. The corolla consists of 4 free petals and a small but magnificent core. Dogwood is recognized as a good honey plant, but during the flowering period, the average daily temperature rarely exceeds + 12 ° C. This makes insect pollination difficult. In order for pollination by the wind to be sufficiently effective, it is necessary to plant several plants nearby with one flowering period nearby.
The fruits ripen for a long time. Throughout the summer, they hang on branches in green clusters and only from the end of August, or even closer to October, become light red or maroon. In some types of dogwood, berries are painted in blue-violet or white. Usually they have an elongated or cylindrical shape, but are almost round or pear-shaped. The taste of large (up to 3 cm in length) drupe sour-sweet, tart. Under the thin skin and delicate pulp is the only large bone.
Types and varieties of dogwood
The genus of dogwood is divided into 4 subgenus and unites more than 50 species.
Dogwood ordinary (male). Deciduous perennial and multi-stemmed tree up to 5-6 m in height or shrub up to 4 m in height. The fibrous rhizome lies to a depth of 40 cm. The outstretched horizontal branches with smooth black-brown bark are covered with opposite oval leaves of bright green color. The leaf length is 3.5-8 cm. Small yellowish flowers in umbrellas up to 25 pieces bloom in early April. Juicy fruit-drupe elongated covered with a light red skin. Varieties:
- Nana - a small bush with a spherical crown;
- Aurea - plants are covered with yellow monophonic leaves;
- Lukyanovsky - each medium-sized tree with a rounded crown knots up to 10-25 kg of large burgundy berries.
Dogwood is white. The branched shrub up to 3 m high is characterized by flexible branches with a smooth red bark. Opposite short-leaved oval leaves and bright green color in length are 2-10 cm. Dense corymbose inflorescences with white corollas with a diameter of about 1 cm are formed at the ends of the branches. Oblate fruits are first painted blue and later become white-blue.
Dogwood Canadian. Shrub with creeping shoots in height does not exceed 20 cm. Large oval leaves grow in whorls and resemble foliage of plantain. Greenish flowers are arranged in small groups. In autumn, bright red cylindrical berries ripen.
Breeding methods
Garden varietal dogwood is propagated exclusively by vegetative methods:
- Cuttings. Green summer shoots cut from bushes older than 6 years are best taken root. Twigs of 10-15 cm long with 2-3 pairs of leaves should be harvested. The lower section is performed diagonally 1.5 cm below the node. The leaves closest to the cut are removed. The cuttings are treated with a growth stimulant ("Heteroauxin") and planted in a garden in a place protected from the sun and wind. The soil surface is sprinkled with river sand, and then a small frame is installed and the seedlings are covered with a film. The entire rooting period must be sufficiently moist. Optimum air temperature is + 25 ° C. On hotter days, the greenhouse is aired. After 2-3 weeks, the cuttings take root and are gradually accustomed to growth without shelter. A transfer to a permanent place is planned for next fall.
- Vaccination (budding). Varietal shoots are grafted onto the stock of wild dogwood at the end of summer or September. To do this, make a cross-shaped incision to a depth of 3 cm. A part of the shoot with a kidney, bark and leaf is inserted into it. A top dressing bandage is applied. After 15-20 days, the vaccine will take root, and the latch can be removed.
- Rooting layers. Lower shoots about a year old, which are easily bent, can be rooted. Begin in the middle of spring, after the thaw. Dig the ground with fertilizer and pin the sprouts. Pinch the top, but leave it open. In a few weeks, new shoots will appear on the lay. When their height exceeds 10 cm, the shoots are half asleep with fresh soil. After 2-3 weeks, the procedure is repeated. In early autumn, layering is separated and immediately transplanted to a permanent place.
- Growing from seed. For this, it is necessary to select ripe fruits without flaws, free them from the pulp and dry. For a whole year, the bones are placed in moist sawdust or moss and kept in a cold room. Such stratification is necessary for seedlings to appear in the first year. Then the seeds are planted in pots with sandy peat soil to a depth of 3 cm. In the first year, only a small sprout appears (no more than 4 cm in height), by the second autumn it will reach 10-15 cm. Next spring, the seedling can be moved to the garden. Fruiting seedlings occurs from 7-10 years of life.
Landing and care
Dogwood is unpretentious to the structure and composition of the soil, but it is better if the earth is fertile, with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction. It is better to choose a place for a plant in the open sun. The width of the crown, especially in bushes, reaches 3-4 m, so the distance can withstand about 5-6 m. Sometimes a denser landing of dogwood is practiced as a green hedge. Plants 1-2 years old and 1.2 m high are planted in a permanent place.
Dig a landing pit at least 70 cm deep in 7-10 days. A layer of mineral and organic fertilizers is poured to the bottom (ammonium nitrate, mullein, compost, superphosphate, wood ash). After planting, the earth is rammed and poured under each bush 2.5-3 buckets of water. To compensate for rhizome damage, shoots are cut off by 30%.
Daily dogwood care is simple. It must be watered periodically, but not stagnant. The trunk circle is loosened and weeds are removed. This is especially important for young plants. It is worth mulching the surface of the soil with crushed sawdust or straw.
There is no need to form a crown. It is enough to thin out too thick places and remove dry branches in spring and late summer. Plants aged 10-15 years rejuvenate, cutting off almost all the old shoots.
Twice a year, dogwood is fed. In June, a solution of rotted bird or cow droppings is introduced, and in late August, ash and superphosphate are scattered on the soil surface.
In a temperate climate, dogwood winters well without shelter. It can endure cold weather up to -30 ° C. Before severe frosts, the soil is mulched with a layer of peat, and then covered with fallen leaves. The plants planted this year are additionally wrapped with lutrasil or burlap.
Varietal garden dogwood already at the selection stage received good immunity, therefore, plant diseases rarely disturb gardeners. Sometimes on the leaves you can find signs of powdery mildew or rust, from which systematic treatment with fungicide will help. Of parasites, only occasionally appear caterpillars of the multiflorum or cochlea. From them will help whitewashing the trunk with lime and spraying with Parisian herbs.
Useful properties of dogwood
Almost everything is useful in cornel. In folk medicine, leaves, flowers, bark with young branches, root and, of course, berries are used. Raw materials contain a large amount of the following substances:
- carbohydrates;
- Sahara;
- dietary fiber;
- organic acids;
- vitamins;
- minerals;
- tannins;
- flavonoids;
- catechins.
The drugs have immunomodulatory, firming, stimulating, diuretic, bactericidal actions. A decoction of inflorescences and foliage is taken for fever, colds, typhoid, tuberculosis. A mixture of crushed root with honey is rubbed into the skin to treat boils and inflammations.
Dogwood berries are dried and used to make jelly, jam, decoction, and also eaten raw. They help to improve the digestive tract, stimulate appetite, normalize blood pressure and lower blood sugar. A positive effect on the circulatory system and blood vessels manifests itself in strengthening the walls of the veins. If there are several berries with stones daily, they will completely dissolve in the stomach. This practice helps fight varicose veins and hemorrhoids.
Contraindications to treatment with dogwood are a tendency to allergies and individual intolerance to the product, constipation, increased acidity of the stomach, nervous excitement.
