大果山茱萸种

描述

大果山茱萸是一棵中至大型的落叶灌木，或小乔木，植株可以长到5-12米高。分枝呈现棕色，嫩枝呈现绿色。叶对生，叶子长4-10公分，宽2-4公分，叶片为卵形至长椭圆形，叶缘形式为全缘。花不大，直径仅5毫米至10毫米，有4片黄色花瓣。在英国，该植物通常是在冬末开花，于2-3月间开花，花开完后再长出叶子。该植物的果实是一颗像长椭圆形的红色核果，2公分长，直径1.5公分，里面包含一颗种子。

用处

果实

此植物的果实颜色和形状与咖啡果实类似，果实通常在中夏至夏末成熟，在东欧和伊朗，这些食物常被摘取食用。但是，其在果实未成熟时是苦涩的。果实一定要掉落地面才会完全成熟。成熟后，果实有可能是暗红色或是浅黄色。口感像是小红莓和欧洲酸樱桃的酸味。此作物常被加工做成果酱，果酱类似于蔓越莓果酱，但是，当然干燥果实也可以吃。在亚美尼亚和阿塞拜疆，果实可以蒸馏成伏特加。而在阿尔巴尼亚和波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那，果实被蒸馏成拉基亚。在希腊，此果实被自制成酒。在土耳其和伊朗的夏天，常被拿来与盐一起食用，也可以制成当地的传统饮料。乌克兰的栽培品种可以让果实有4公分长。在东欧，此果实因为有高含量的维他命C，常被拿来治疗流行性感冒和普通感冒。

树木

大果山茱萸的树干的密度非常的高，不像其他的树木，因此会沉于水里。这个特点让大果山茱萸的木头变得有价值，并可以制成手拿用具或机器零件。实际上，大果山茱萸在公元前7世纪被希腊工人制成长矛、标枪或是弓。工人认为此种木头优于任何的木材。

Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), also known as the European cornel, is a species of shrub or small tree in the dogwood family Cornaceae native to Western Europe, Southern Europe, and Southwestern Asia.

Description

It is a medium to large deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5–12 m (16–39 ft) tall, with dark brown branches and greenish twigs. The leaves are opposite, 4–10 cm (1.6–3.9 in) long and 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin. The flowers are small (5–10 mm in diameter), with four yellow petals, produced in clusters of 10–25 together in the late winter (between February and March in the UK), well before the leaves appear. The fruit is an oblong red drupe 2 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter, containing a single seed.

Name

Cornus mas, "male" cornel, was named so to distinguish it from the true dogberry, the "female" cornel, Cornus sanguinea, and so it appears in John Gerard's Herbal:

This is Cornus mas Theophrasti, or Theophrastus his male Cornell tree; for he ſetteth downe two ſortes of Cornell trees, the male and the female: he maketh the wood of the male to bee ſound as in this Cornell tree; which we both for this cauſe and for others alſo, haue made to be the male; the female is that which is commonly called Virga ſanguinea, or Dogs berrie tree, and Cornus ſylveſtris, or the wild Cornell tree, of which alſo we will intreate of in the next chap. following.

Cultivation

The shrub was not native to the British Isles. William Turner had only heard of the plant in 1548, but by 1551 he had heard of one at Hampton Court Palace. Gerard said it was to be found in the gardens "of such as love rare and dainty plants".

The appreciation of the early acid-yellow flowers is largely a 20th-century development.

Cultivars

The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017):

• 'Aurea' (yellow leaves and flowers, red fruit)
• 'Golden Glory' (profuse yellow flowers, shiny red berries)
• 'Variegata' (variegated leaves, glossy red fruit)

Uses

Fruit

The fruits are red berries. When ripe on the plant, they bear a resemblance to coffee berries, and ripen in mid- to late summer. The fruit is edible and widely known in Iran, where it is believed to have medicinal properties and provide health benefits. It is also used in Eastern Europe, the UK, and British Columbia, Canada, but the unripe fruit is astringent. When ripe, the fruit is dark ruby-red or a bright yellow. It has an acidic flavor which is best described as a mixture of cranberry and sour cherry. It is mainly used for making jam. It is widely used in Azerbaijan to make pickles or beverages or to add to rice. In Armenia, Cornus berries are used to make vodka. In Romania and Moldova, the berries are used to make an alcoholic beverage known as cornată. In Bulgaria the berries are widely used to make kompot. In Iran, the fresh fruit is common as a summer refreshment or as an infusion in araq (raisin vodka). It is also preserved by drying and salting, or made into fruit leather or paste, which are enjoyed as a children's treat or used as a sour seasoning, similar to plum, pomegranate and tamarind.

The fruit of Cornus mas (together with the fruit of C. officinalis) has a history of use in traditional Chinese medicine in which it is known as shānzhūyú (山茱萸) and used to retain the jing.

Flowers

The species is also grown as an ornamental plant for its late winter yellow flowers, which open earlier than those of Forsythia. While Cornus mas flowers are not as large and vibrant as those of the Forsythia, the entire plant can be used for a similar effect in the landscape.

Wood

The wood of C. mas is extremely dense and, unlike the wood of most other woody plant species, sinks in water. This density makes it valuable for crafting into tool handles or parts for machines.

Cornus mas was used from the seventh century BCE onward by Greek craftsmen to construct spears, javelins and bows, as a material far superior to any other wood. It was also used by the Kingdom of Macedon under Phillip II and later Alexander the Great as the primary material for the sarissa used by their infantry soldiers. The wood's association with weaponry was so well known that the Greek name for it was used as a synonym for "spear" in poetry during the fourth and third centuries BCE.

In Italy, the mazzarella, uncino or bastone, the stick carried by the butteri or mounted herdsmen of the Maremma region, is traditionally made of cornel-wood, there called crognolo or grugnale, dialect forms of Italian: corniolo.