Cornelian Cherry
Common Name: Cornelian Cherry[1]
Scientific Name: Cornus mas
On March 31, 1774 Thomas Jefferson recorded in his garden diary planting four "Ciriege Corniole" or Cornelian Cherry trees along with sixteen other varieties of fruit trees and vegetables.[2]
The Cornelian Cherry is a native to southern Europe and western Asia and has been cultivated since ancient times for the fruit, which is excellent for preserves and syrup. However, by the nineteenth century, the use of this fruit was already in decline, and it wasn't until the twentieth century that gardeners appreciated its ornamental features (a winter flower display and attractive red fruits in late summer).[3]
Footnotes
- ↑ This article is based on Center for Historic Plants Information Sheet.
- ↑ Betts, Garden Book, 50. Manuscript and transcription at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
- ↑ Alice M. Coats, Garden Shrubs and their Histories (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992), 58.
See Also
Further Sources
- Betts, Edwin M., Hazlehurst Bolton Perkins, and Peter J. Hatch. Thomas Jefferson's Flower Garden at Monticello., 3rd ed. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986
- Dutton, Joan Parry. Plants of Colonial Williamsburg. Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg, 1979
- Hatch, Peter J. The Fruits and Fruit Trees of Monticello. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998
- Leighton, Ann. American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1986
- McMahon, Bernard. The American Gardener's Calendar, 1806
- Seeds available for purchase at the Monticello Museum Shop
- Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants
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