Cornus officinalis blossoms first and then sprouts leaves. Red fruit is full of scarlet in autumn. It is beautiful and pleasing to the eye.

Dogwood (Cornus officinalis)

Cornus officinalis (scientific name: Cornus officinalis Sieb. Et Zucc.) deciduous trees or shrubs; bark grayish brown; branchlets cylindric, glabrous.

Leaves opposite, papery, green above, glabrous, light green below; petiole finely Terete, with shallow grooves above, rounded below.

Umbels arising from lateral branches, involucral bracts ovate, purplish; total pedicel stout, slightly gray pubescent

Flowers small, bisexual, apex open; calyx broadly triangular, glabrous; petals ligulate-lanceolate, yellow, revolute.

Stamens alternate with petals, filaments subulate, anthers elliptic; disk glabrous; pedicels slender.

Drupe long oval, red to purplish red; nuclear bone, narrowly elliptic, with several irregular ribs. The flowering period is from March to April and the fruiting period is from September to October.

Produced in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan and other provinces. It is also distributed in Korea and Japan. Born in forest margins or forests with an altitude of 400-1500 m and sparse up to 2100 m. It is introduced and cultivated in Sichuan. The fruit of this species (including Cornus officinalis) is called "cornus meat", commonly known as jujube peel, for medicinal purposes, sour taste, lukewarm sex, strong astringent medicine, tonifying liver and kidney and antiperspirant effect.

Morphological characteristics

Deciduous trees or shrubs, 4-10 m tall; bark grayish brown; branchlets cylindric, glabrous or sparsely Adnate pubescent. Winter buds terminal and axillary, ovate to lanceolate, yellowish brown pubescent. Leaves opposite, papery, ovate-lanceolate or ovate-elliptic, 5.5-10 cm long and 2.5-4.5 cm wide, apex acuminate, base broadly cuneate or nearly rounded, entire, green above, glabrous, light green below, sparsely white Adnate pubescent, vein axils densely brownish tufted, midrib conspicuous above, raised below, nearly glabrous, lateral veins 6-7 pairs, arched inward Petiole finely Terete, 0.6-1.2 cm long, with shallow grooves above, rounded below, slightly Adnate sparsely pilose.

Umbels arising from branches, with involucral bracts 4, ovate, thickly papery to leathery, ca. 8 mm, purplish, slightly pubescent on both sides, glabrescent after flowering; total pedicel stout, ca. 2 mm, minutely gray pubescent; flowers small, bisexual, first leaves open; calyx lobes 4, broadly triangular, as long as or slightly longer than disk, ca. 0.6 mm, glabrous. Petals 4, ligulate-lanceolate, 3.3 mm long, yellow, revolute; stamens 4, alternate with petals, 1.8 mm long, filaments subulate, anthers elliptic, 2-loculed; disk cushion, glabrous; ovary inferior, receptacle Obovate, ca. 1 mm, densely Adnate sparsely pilose, style Terete, 1.5 mm long, stigma truncate; pedicel slender, 0.5-1 cm long, densely sparsely pilose.

Drupe long oval, 1.2-1.7 cm long, 5-7 mm in diameter, red to purplish red; nuclear bony, narrowly elliptic, ca. 12 mm, with several irregular rib lines. The flowering period is from March to April and the fruiting period is from September to October.

Growth habit

Cornus officinalis is a positive tree species in warm temperate zone, the optimum growth temperature is 20-30 ℃, and the growth is poor when it is more than 35 ℃. Strong cold resistance, can withstand a short-18 ℃ low temperature, grow well, Cornus officinalis is more shady but like sufficient light, usually in the middle and lower part of the hillside, shady slopes, sunny slopes, valleys and both sides of the river grow well, generally distributed in the area of 400-1800 meters above sea level, of which 600-1300 meters is more suitable. Dogwood should be planted in well-drained, rich organic matter and fertile sandy soil. Clay should be mixed with appropriate amount of river sand to increase drainage and air permeability.

Habitat of producing area

Produced in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan and other provinces. It is also distributed in Korea and Japan. Born in a forest edge or forest with an altitude of 400-1500 m and a height of 2100 m. It is introduced and cultivated in Sichuan, China.

Reproduction method

Seed

Breeding land selection: the nursery land should choose the place where the seedling land is fertile and deep, the terrain is relatively flat, the soil is loose, leeward to the sun, and there are conditions for irrigation, so as to ensure that it can be irrigated at any time. Before sowing, the nursery land must be deeply ploughed with fine rakes, leveled and trimmed to ensure looseness, fine crushing, leveling, no roots, no stone tiles, and a ploughing depth of more than 20 centimeters. it is important to combine deep ploughing with retting farm manure.

Seed preparation: seed picking: select excellent mother trees that grow healthily, are in the peak fruiting period, and have no big or small years. The mature, full-grained, pest-free, damage-free, crimson fruits were picked from September to October. Remove the flesh from the picked fruit.

Seed treatment: seed treatment is directly related to the emergence rate, which is very important. First put the seeds in 5% alkali water, rub 5 meters with your hands, then add boiling water to scald, pour the water and stir until the seeds are submerged in boiling water. When the water is slightly cool, rub 5 meters with your hands, soak in cold water for 24 hours, remove and spread the seeds on the cement ground for 8 hours, repeat for at least 3 days, wait for 90% of the shells to have cracks, mix the seeds with wet sand at 4:1 and store them in sand. Often spray water to moisturize, check frequently to prevent mildew and rot of the seeds, and sow the seeds in the spring of the second year. This method of treatment is suitable for spring sowing. If you choose autumn sowing, you only need to soak the seeds in warm water of not less than 70 ℃ for 3 days, and then sow the seeds (be careful to change the hot water after the water is cool), and then cover the seeds with film to accelerate germination.

Sowing: spring sowing and seedling raising is carried out before and after the Spring Equinox. The seeds stored in sand in the first autumn are dug out and sown. Before sowing, the seeds are spread evenly in the ditch with a depth of about 5 cm. The seeds are evenly scattered in the ditch, and the soil is covered with 3-4 cm. Keep the soil moist and seedlings can emerge in 40-50 days. The amount of seed used is 90-150 kg / h square meters.

Pressing strip

After the fruit is harvested in autumn or before the earth thaw buds germinate, the two-or three-year-old branches close to the ground are bent to the ground. Near the ground, the branches are cut to the xylem and buried in the soil where the barnyard manure has been applied. The branches are covered with 15 cm sandy loam, and the first end of the branches is exposed to the ground. Watering frequently, the second winter or the third spring will cut off the connection between the long-rooted strip and the mother plant, and the rooted seedlings will be planted elsewhere.

Cuttage

In the middle and late May, the branches were cut on the excellent mother plant, the Lignified branches were cut into 15-20 cm cuttings, 2-4 leaves were retained in the upper part of the branches, and inserted into the seedbed made by mixing humus soil and fine sand. The row spacing was 20 cm × 8 cm, the depth was 12-16 cm, and the covering soil was 12-16 cm. Pour enough water, cover agricultural film, keep the air temperature 26-30 ℃, relative humidity 60% Mel 80%, upper shade, transmittance 25%, and adjust the transmittance to 10% in mid-June to avoid strong light. Remove the shade shed and pour enough water before overwintering. The following year, properly loosen the soil and pull up grass, strengthen the management of water and fertilizer, and plant seedlings in late autumn and early winter or in the early spring of the following year.

Grafting

It is difficult to breed the seedlings of Fructus Corni. The seedlings can not bear fruit until more than 10 years after planting, while the grafted seedlings can blossom and bear fruit in 2-3 years. The use of grafted seedlings can make Cornus officinalis fruit early and benefit early.

Rootstock selection: rootstocks should use their own improved seedlings.

Scion: the scion should be taken from the high-quality mother tree with high yield, strong growth and no diseases and insect pests. When collecting scions, one-year-old branches with full development and full buds should be collected from the periphery of the crown.

Grafting time: rootstocks begin to sprout in early spring. The bark was grafted when the scion bud just sprouted (about mid-late March), and the rootstock bark was easy to peel off and the scion bud was full from mid-July to mid-August.

Grafting method: bark grafting: first, cut off the top of the rootstock where the bark is smooth and 5-10 cm close to the ground, cut flat, cut down with a grafting knife on one side of the windward side, about 3 cm long, deep to the xylem, and then pry open a crack in the cortex of the interface with a knife: then cut the scion into 15 cm long. Cut an oblique section 3-5 cm long on the lower side of the back of the main bud, pass through the pith, gently scrape 2 knives on both sides of the cutting surface to expose the cambium, and put the cut scion into the mouth to moisturize. Next, put the scion slope inward, the tip facing the seam, press the cut of the rootstock by hand to insert the scion slowly, and then tap the interface with a grafting knife to make it tight, and the cutting surface should be slightly exposed; finally, the interface is tied up with plastic film. Wipe off the sprouts on the rootstock in time after grafting. When the scion seedling grows to 50 cm high, cut the bound plastic film with a knife.

Bud grafting: first of all, choose a mature and robust scion to take a bud that is 2 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. Cut off the top tip of the rootstock and carve the bark of the same size as the bud in a smooth place 5-10 cm above the ground. Insert the bud block into the peeling part of the rootstock, then tie it tightly with plastic film, but expose the bud. After 7-10 days of grafting, the interface healed, the bandage could be untied, and the trunk was cut off at 5 cm above the bud. After grafting, the sprouts on the rootstock should be erased in time to promote the growth of seedlings.

Cultivation techniques

Plug-in management

Irrigation immediately after cutting, so that the cuttings are in close contact with the soil, so that the cuttings can absorb enough water, and then cover the agricultural film, the temperature should be kept at 26-30 ℃, the relative humidity should be 60%, 80%, the upper part should be shaded, and the transmittance should be 25%. Strong light should be avoided in the middle of June. Remove the shade shed and pour enough water before overwintering. The following year, properly loosen the soil and pull up grass, strengthen the management of water and fertilizer, and plant seedlings in late autumn and early winter or in the early spring of the following year.

Seedling stage management

When the seedlings grew out of 2 true leaves, the seedling spacing was 7 cm, weeds were removed, the seedlings were ploughed in the first ten days of June, watered once before winter, and the roots of the seedlings were cultivated to survive the winter safely.

As the seed coat of Cornus officinalis is hard and not easy to germinate, no matter it is sowing in spring or autumn, it should be covered with plastic film in time to keep warm and wet. Under normal circumstances, all the seedlings can come out in one year. After completing the seedlings, we should strengthen the management, loosen the soil and weed at the right time, water according to the soil moisture, and fertilize to promote the growth of the seedlings. When the seedlings are 80-100 cm high, they can be planted out of the nursery.

Field management

After planting, weeding was carried out 4-5 times a year, and calcium superphosphate was applied in May and June to promote flower bud differentiation, increase fruit setting rate, and increase wax fertilizer in winter, which could also balance the annual difference of fruit size. Cultivate the soil once in summer to prevent lodging. When the height of the young tree is about 40-60 cm, the top tip is removed in February, 3-4 main branches are selected, and 3-4 secondary main branches are left on the main branch to form a natural happy shape. Young trees are mainly shaped, supplemented by pruning. And because the long and medium-short fruit branches of Cornus officinalis are dominated by apical flower buds, all kinds of fruit branches should not be truncated. Adult trees are pruned in spring and autumn to adjust the contradiction between growth and fruit, renew fruiting branches, retain growing branches, cut short, and promote branches.

Main value

Medicinal use

The pulp contains 16 kinds of amino acids and a large number of essential elements for the human body. In addition, it contains raw sugars, polysaccharides, malic acid, tartaric acid, phenols, resins, tannins and vitamins An and C with strong physiological activity. Its taste is sour and astringent, and it has the effects of nourishing, invigorating stomach, diuresis, tonifying liver and kidney, tonifying qi and blood and so on. It mainly treats high blood pressure, waist and knee pain, vertigo and tinnitus, impotence, spermatorrhea, menorrhagia and so on.

The ripe and dry fruit of Cornus officinalis is the meat of the precious medicinal material potato after enucleation. The fruit medicine is used as an astringent blood tonifying agent and a strong agent; it can strengthen the stomach, tonify the liver and kidney, treat anemia, low back pain, nerve and heart weakness, etc. Its taste is sour and astringent, entering the liver and kidney meridians. Astringent astringent, nourishing liver and kidney, strengthening kidney astringent essence, suitable for sore waist and knees, spermatorrhea, vertigo and tinnitus caused by deficiency of liver and kidney.

The flesh of Cornus officinalis is rich in nutrients and functional ingredients. Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica in the Ming Dynasty collected the experience of doctors in the application of Cornus officinalis, and listed Cornus officinalis as a medicine for tonifying blood and essence, tonifying liver and kidney, regulating qi, tonifying deficiency, clear vision and strengthening the body.

Economics

The development of green health food with Cornus officinalis as raw material can be processed into beverages, jams, candied fruits and canned foods.

Watch

Cornus officinalis blossoms first and then sprouts leaves. It is full of red fruits in autumn, scarlet, beautiful and pleasing to the eye. It is a good fruit for viewing in autumn and winter. It is very popular for landscaping. It can be planted alone or in a piece in the garden or flower bed. The landscape effect is very beautiful. Potted fruit can be viewed for as long as 3 months, and it is very popular in the flower market.

Plant culture

The name dogwood first appeared in the Classic of Shennong Materia Medica. In the folk, there is a legend about the origin of the name Cornus officinalis. Legend has it that the king of Zhao had cervical spondylosis during the warring States period, and the neck pain was unbearable. A royal doctor surnamed Zhu gave it to the king of Zhao with a kind of dried fruit decoction, which soon relieved the king of Zhao. Then the king of Zhao asked Zhu Yu what panacea he used, and Zhu replied that it was the fruit of Cornus officinalis. If he persisted in taking it, it would not only cure the pain of the cervical vertebra, but also calm the mind and strengthen the brain and clear the eyes. After hearing this, King Zhao was overjoyed and made people grow a large variety of Cornus officinalis. In order to recognize the achievements of Zhu Yuyi, he renamed Cornus officinalis to Cornus officinalis. Later, people wrote Cornus officinalis into what is now Cornus officinalis, and gradually passed it down.

Cornus officinalis

Dynasty: Tang Dynasty

Author: Wang Wei

The original text: Zhu Shishan opens at the foot of the mountain, and the fragrance is even more cold. Fortunately, with sweet-scented osmanthus, facing the autumn moon in front of the window.