Dear isolde

Cornus mas is a deciduous shrub that self-sown in southern Europe and southwest Asia. In our country(Greece) self-sown mainly in northern Greece.
It doesn't grow up very fast but after few years can be 5-12 meters. He has dark brown arms and green branches.

Cornus mas can live in temperatures up to -30 C .

The tree is known by the time of Homer called "Kraneia" (Iliad II, 767). Indeed, according to Theophrastus, the wood of the cornel was so hard as the bone and used to make hunting spears, war spears, arrows and sticks. While according to Pausanias, the ancient Greeks built the Trojan Horse of cornel wood from the sacred grove of Apollo.

In antiquity it was used the fruits of cornel mainly for medicinal purposes. The helmet contains a high level flavanoeidon and anthocyanin during development and ripening of the fruit (labeled 4 flavanoeidi). It has also been found by laboratory analysis to contain vitamin C and are rich in carotene, pectin and tannin, and a high iron content (Fe).

The locals in the mountains of Greece using products of cornus mas for treats but also for heart disease, pain abdomen, period pains, stomach and intestinal disorders as digestive, anti-diarrhea during pregnancy, as a tonic working hours and after sports activities.

Βears eat the fruit of the tree and live for many years ,think what cornus mas can make for us !!!

Thanks mpismpiz!