Cornus mas
Origin: Central Eurasia (via Rochester, New York, then Missouri)
Improvement status: Cultivar
Seeds per packet: ~10
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
Cornelian cherry is a fascinating edible-fruited dogwood species from Eurasia, considered native from northern Iran and the Caucasus Mountains (where it's particularly popular) west through most of continental Europe all the way to France. It's also called "cornel dogwood", "European cornel," or simply "cornel." The fruit is good for juice, jam, syrup, sauces, pickles, and beverages. 'Redstone' is a productive, showy cultivar originally identified in Rochester, NY, in 1930s, by Bernard Slavin, superintendent of Rochester's Parks Department, and then evaluated for decades by the USDA in Missouri. It was released primarily as an ornamental plant for its showy spring flowers and bright red fruit, it's also well adapted to a range of habitats and is a fine culinary cultivar as well.
The collaborative authors at Wikipedia detail a wide range of uses for this rather extraordinary plant: "The fruit is edible and widely popular in Iran, where it is believed to have various 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, added to rice or to make beverages. 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 popular as a refreshing summer delicacy or as an infusion in Araq (raisin vodka). It is also preserved by drying and salting, or made into fruit leather or paste, enjoyed as a children's delicacy 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 ("kidney essence").
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.
The wood of Cornus 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 craftspeople to construct spears, javelins and bows, as a material far superior to any other wood. 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 the Italian corniolo).
The leaves (and fruit) are used in traditional medicine in Central and Southwest Asia."
Pretty sweet, no?
GROWING TIPS: Starting cornelian cherries from seed is a bit of a process, but it's the only way to develop your own new cultivar! From our friends at the Philly Orchard Project - "To start Cornelian Cherries from seed, sow seeds from fresh fruits in fall, or stratify dried seed for 23 weeks, cold, or 16 weeks warm and then 4-16 weeks cold. Germination can take as long as 12-15 months, though nicking the seed coat prior to stratification can help to speed up the process. Seedlings raise two large irregular oval seed leaves when they sprout, followed by normal foliage with leaves in pairs. Cornelian Cherries can be grown in soil of moderate to good fertility, including heavy clay. They prefer moist soil and sunshine, and will tolerate shade and exposure to wind. They are also resistant to drought and suffer from very few pests and diseases. While Cornelian Cherries can be grown from seed, grafted Cornelian Cherries reach maturity more quickly; grown from seed, they can taken 3-5 years to flower, and 6-10 years to bear fruit, while grafted varieties will usually start fruiting within 1-2 years of transplanting. These trees can be very long-lived; there is a botanical garden in Kiev that includes Cornelian Cherries that are 150-200 years old and still bear fruit!"
NOTE: Photos are public domain images depicting cornelian cherries, not necessarily 'Redstone', though we've chosen images that are similar-looking (others are pear-shaped, yellow, etc).
