Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/752

 722 THORN adapted than any other native thorn, but it has the disadvantages common to plants of this genus mentioned under HEDGE. The hard close wood of this and other species takes a Cockspur Thorn (Crataegus crus-galli). fine polish, and serves for handles to hammers and other tools, hut on account of its small size its use is limited. Among the most con- spicuous of the native species is the Washington thorn (C. cordata which grows from Virginia southward, but has been somewhat cultivated as a hedge plant further north; it grows 10 to 20 ft. high, and is very spiny ; its broad leaves, sometimes slightly heart-shaped at base, are often three-lobed ; the fruit, the size of peas, is bright red. The scarlet-fruited thorn (C. coccinea), with smooth, thin, round- ish-ovate leaves, and coral-red but scarcely edi- ble fruit, is very common. So also is the pear or black thorn (C. tomentosa), which has thick- ish ovate or obovate, sharply toothed leaves, downy when young, very large fragrant flow- ers, and globular or pear-shaped fruit three fourths of an inch across, scarlet or orange, and edible, having often a pleasant flavor ; there are several varieties of this, one of which has its fruit dotted with white. The parsley-leaved thorn (C. apiifolia), distinguished by its much cut leaves, is found from Virginia southward. The summer haw (C. astivalis) of South Caro- lina, and growing southward and westward, is a small tree found on the margins of the pine- barren ponds ; it has wedge-obovate, thick leaves, and globose, large, red fruit, which ripens in early summer, and, being quite juicy with a pleasant acid flavor, is much esteemed for making tarts and jellies. The remaining native species are only of interest to the bota- nist. Among exotic thorns, the best known is the hawthorn (C. oxyacantha), also called white thorn, and in England May or May tree, and also quickset, from its being set to form a quick or living fence or hedge. The term haw is applied to the fruit of this and other thorns ; but being from the A. S. Tiaga, a fence or hedge, hawthorn really means a hedge thorn, and the origin of the name points to this use of it in very early times. The species is found through- out Europe, Siberia, and central Asia ; and as it was early introduced into this country, it has become more or less naturalized in the older states. Its smooth leaves are wedge-shaped at the base and cut-lobed and toothed above; its abundant flowers appear in May, and are fol- lowed by ovoid, coral-red, rather small fruit. The varieties are numerous, the catalogues con- taining 30 or more, which differ from the nor- mal form in the shape of the tree, some being very pendulous, in the character of the leaves, and in the form and color of the flowers ; the bloom, usually white, varies from blush through pink and rose color up to a recently introduced scarlet, and there are double as well as single flowers of the white and various shades, so that a collection of the forms of this species alone would present a great variety. The Glaston- bury thorn, near the abbey of that name in England, is a variety of hawthorn flowering twice a year ; it blooms at the usual time, and also bears a crop of very early flowers, which open about Christmas. In England the haw- thorn is the almost universal hedge plant, it being as well adapted to that climate as it is unfitted to ours ; the early attempts at hedging in this country were, in imitation of the home practice, made with this plant ; and the general Hawthorn (Cratsegus oxyacantha). failure with it brought all hedging into disre- pute. (See HEDGE.) The evergreen or pyra- canth thorn (C. pyracantha), from the south of Europe, was distributed several years ago as a desirable hedge plant ; it has shining, ever- green, mostly oblong leaves, about an inch long, with small clusters of flowers and brilliant red fruit ; it has become naturalized near Wash- ington and in some other localities; in a cli- mate not more severe than that of Virginia it makes an excellent hedge. An accidental variety with white or yellowish fruit is (as is sometimes the case with varieties) more robust