Exquisite branching, unique fragrant flowers, tasty berries, foliage with red, burgundy or orange hues in autumn, useful properties make cornels favorite tree or shrub from many gardeners, owners of private plots. Ancient healers used it as a medicine. Vitamin C in it more than black currants. The beneficial properties of the dogwood will help strengthen the immune system during the cold season. Pay attention to contraindications. Culinary processing retains all its taste and healing properties. Cornel - recipes blanks from it are below - jam, jelly will delight you in the winter.
There is a legend that when the world was created, the devil begged the dogwood from God, being tempted by its early golden flowering. Like, the harvest will be the earliest. I had to wait a long time. They bloomed, bore fruit all the trees, and at the cornel they were still green. The devil cursed him with annoyance.
The period of growth and ripening of the berries of the dogwood lasts up to six( !) Months. This is a very ancient plant dating back to the Neolithic period.
In the wild state, it grows in Europe, Ukraine, Moldova, the Caucasus, Belarus, central Russia. In our Novokubansk district of the Krasnodar Territory, dogwood grows wild in the narrow strip of the Kuban forest along the Kuban River. The cultivated species grows in private gardens, in private gardens.
Useful Properties
Dogwood is a very useful, valuable fruit and technical breed. Fruits are used fresh, canned, in the confectionery industry, traditional medicine. Cornel berries are rich in sugars, organic acids( 3.4%), pectin( 0.73%), carotene( 1.65 mg%).Biologically active substances kakhetins( up to 281 mg%) and flavonols( up to 169 mg%) normalize the permeability and elasticity of the walls of blood vessels.
Many essential and easily digestible microelements( calcium, sodium, potassium, manganese, iron, phosphorus) salts have long allowed the use of cornel in the treatment of various diseases.
Broth it was used against smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, colds. Fresh fruits - with gastrointestinal diseases, anemia. Leaves and bark - with tuberculosis. This is an excellent anti-scorpion remedy.
With its rich content, cornel strengthens the body's immune system, renewing it, increasing its vulnerabilities. Not for nothing its fruits due to its beneficial properties are added to children's dietary food.
Broth of berries has antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and bactericidal action.
Dogwood berries juice lowers blood sugar.
Pasta is made from its fruits for astronauts and seafarers. Dogwood products are recommended to be used by workers in hazardous industries to remove radioactive substances and salts of heavy metals from the body.
Useful in cornels are not only fruits, but even bones, leaves, from which coffee and tea substitutes are made. Crushed roasted bones have antiseptic properties. Homeopathy uses the essence of fresh cornel bark, and a fruit with a phytoncidic effect is made from the fruit to treat bacterial dysentery.
Solid wood with a beautiful pink and white sapwood( sapwood is the layer of wood to which bast and bark directly adjoin), the red-brown core is well polished, therefore highly valued in the furniture industry. Cornel is a beautiful early-spring honey plant. However, the plant itself is also very beautiful.
Dogwood - contraindications
A large amount of dogwood can harm the body, causing bloating and diarrhea. Excessive consumption of berries, in addition, can lead to a glut of vitamin C, which can aggravate diseases of the digestive system, kidneys.
Consumption of dogwood is contraindicated for people suffering from gastritis with high acidity, duodenitis, constipation, gastric ulcer, and allergies.
Due to the ability of the cornel to excite the nervous system, it is not recommended to eat it at bedtime. For the same reason, do not eat cornel while pregnant, as it increases the tone of the uterus during pregnancy.
Before eating, the fruit must be thoroughly washed, otherwise there is a risk of getting an intestinal infection.
Characterization of a dogwood as an
plant 
Dogwood grows in the woods like a shrub, it is notable for its slow growth. Cultivars growers form a low spreading tree. Life expectancy is reportedly up to three hundred years. The trunk is 12–4 cm thick, the crown is spreading, sometimes spherical or pyramidal( in cultivated species).The root system is fibrous, well developed, the depth of the roots is up to 150 cm. Two to three-year-old shoots are brownish, the internodes reach 8-10 cm.
Collars are three-four-year-old shoots with flower buds opposite. The growth of the dogwood sprout ends with a very large vegetative bud, on the sides of which the lateral vegetative buds are located opposite to , which then give short shoots, at the ends of which flower buds are often formed. They are light green, oval, pointed. Closer to the base of the flower buds are located oppositely located greenish scales hiding two mixed buds, forming two leaves during the growing season, between which flower buds are laid.
The leaves are single-cut, on the petioles, green( lighter below), oval, with a pointed tip, 3.5-11 cm long( larger in cultivars), 1-6 cm wide. The lamina is dense and wavy.
Flowers are collected by an umbrella( 18-32 flowers).Flower diameter 4-5 mm. The pistil is one, as is the nectar, which not only secretes nectar to attract insects, but protects the flower from damage, microorganisms, and promotes the development of the fetus.
Fruit - a drupe, the pericarp juicy, sweet-sour taste( as it ripens), varies in color, weight, shape, size.
In the second half of March, the cornel begins to bloom. Flowering can last until the end of April. The tree is very beautiful in early spring when it blooms. It stands out against the background of bare trees with golden flowers when nature is still asleep around.
Powerful root system strengthens slopes, does not allow weeds to grow. Kizil withstands the polluted air of cities, which is important when planting densely populated areas.
Recipes for processing dogwood berries
Dogwood berries can be used not only fresh. Culinary processing of fruits preserves the taste, healing, healthy qualities for a long time. I offer several recipes for processing dogwood berries.
Jelly from berries of dogwood
Wash the fruits of dogwood( 1 kg), fold it into an enamel pan, cover it with water 2-3 cm above the fruit, cover with a lid, cook for 30-40 minutes until softened, avoiding cooking. The resulting broth is drained, mixed with sugar( 800 g of sugar per 1 liter of juice).Rub berries through a coarse sieve. Then pour the grated berries puree with sugar syrup. Cook again, constantly removing the foam. Jelly is ready, if the drop on the saucer freezes, not spreading. Pour hot jelly into hot sterile jars, cork.
Dogwood, grated with sugar
The most useful product is dogwood, grated with sugar, as this method allows you to keep all the vitamins and aroma of fresh fruit. For this method of processing only overripe fruit is suitable. They need to be washed, dried, remove the bones( I cut off the flesh from the stone with a knife).The process is time consuming, but the result is worth it. Pulp rubbed through a sieve or grind blender. Add sugar to the mass( 2 kg of sugar per 1 kg of fruit), mix until sugar is completely dissolved. Spread in clean jars, close with plastic caps, store in a cool place.
Dogwood Jam
Use hard red, dark red or yellow berries for jam. They need to be washed. Probanshirovat in boiling water for 5-8 minutes, then rinse with cold water. Syrup to prepare at the rate of 1.2-1.5 kg of sugar per 400 ml of water and 1 kg of cornel fruit. Fruits pour hot syrup, cook for 3-5 minutes, then set aside for 5-6 hours. Boil for two or three doses, constantly removing the foam. Syrup gradually boiled down. The jam is ready, if the cooled drop on the saucer does not spread. Pour the dogwood jam into sterile jars, cork.
And in conclusion I want to remind you: cornel will be the best of the plants on your site. Characterized by high yield, beneficial properties, immunity to pests and diseases, it does not require any special agricultural technology - the most important thing is a well chosen place for planting - partly sunny - partly shaded. This is a boon for hypertensive patients, all people with weakened immune systems. This is the pantry of beauty, health and friend for life!
