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The cornel yesterday and today


A bit of history…

The cornel was used since the ancient times. It is passed on that Romulus, the founder of Rome, in order to mark the border of the future city, threw a javelin (cornus) to the Palatine. The handle made of cornel, sinking into the ground, settled and bloomed as symbol of the future power of Rome.
The trunk and the branches were already used to realise farming tools that requested long duration and remarkable strength: wheels, ploughes, harrows and barrel staves.


…Today

The little red fruits of cornel are used today, apart from the preparation of fruit juices and jams (very good with boiled meat), also to produce drinks.
It is even possible to eat the fruits raw, but only those just fallen or those that fell after a light touch are good. Its wood, strong and resistant (the hardest in Europe), besides the production of parts of machines with a big esploitation – as spokes and pawls of wheels – was used to build pipes. From the seed is possible to obtain a oil for burning and all the plant has dyeing properties of yellow.
This plant has also astringent and against-fever properties.