Pausinias states that the Trojan horse was made from the wood of Cornelian cherry, while it provided wood for spears mentioned in the Aeneid and fibre for the Gordian knot. When the followers of Odysseus are transformed into pigs by the witch Circe in the Odyssey, they are fed with the fruits. It is mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphosis as one of the foods available to humans before agriculture. The Cornelian cherry is prominent in classical literature. Cornus mas, the Cornelian cherry, European cornel or Cornelian cherry dogwood, is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to Southern Europe and Southwestern Asia. Trees bear fruit in great quantities and can live for two hundred years. Cultivars may have particularly large fruit which are often pear-shaped and range in colour from white to dark red. Many named varieties have been selected in eastern Europe for fruit size and quality, reflecting high levels of variation in wild populations. Astringent fruit is a good treatment for bowel complaints and fevers, whilst it is also used in the.

A Serbian saying, Zdrav kao dren, translates as 'healthy as a cornel'. Bark and the fruit are astringent, febrifuge and nutritive. Consuming the fruit is often associated with health benefits. In eastern Europe and western Asia, the fruit is very popularly eaten fresh or processed into jams, pickles, syrups and alcoholic beverages. Neolithic food remains from northern Greece include the plant's seeds. Leaf margins irregular creamy white, and quite striking. A large multi-stemmed shrub or small tree, 20-25 wide, oval-rounded outline. Cornus mas Variegata // Variegated Corneliancherry Dogwood Tree. In 1597, herbalist John Gerard describes it: 'there be sundry trees of the cornel in gardens of such as love rare and dainty plants, whereof I have a tree or two in my garden'.Ĭornus mas has a long history of use as a food. SAFFRON SENTINEL CORNELIAN CHERRY - CORNUS MAS JSF PN4LEGACY Common characteristics This columnar, symmetrical selection of Cornelian Cherry Dogwood is. Bark becomes exfoliating, scaly, and flaky, often gray-brown to rich brown. It was introduced into cultivation in monastic gardens during the Middle Ages. Some ornamental cultivars exist with variegated leaves. The tree is grown in Britain as a garden ornamental, valued for its very early flowers. Young plants may only produce male flowers for the first few years of flowering, which may explain another common name male cornel. The Cornelian cherry is not closely related to the sweet cherry rather is in the same genus as the dogwoods. It is highly astringent until completely ripe when it develops a sweet, plum-like taste. The edible fruit, a drupe, is usually red and oblong. The tree produces quantities of small, yellow flowers in late winter, before the emergence of the leaves. The Cornelian cherry is a small, deciduous tree native to central and southern Europe and southwestern Asia.

Cornus mas bark