436 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



the footstalk, almost to its very base. They are doubly serrate 

 above, sometimes deeply cut towards the end, of a rather firm 

 and tough texture, with furrows above the nerves on the upper 

 surface, lighter colored and sometimes hairy beneath, especially 

 on the veins. The fruit dark scarlet, rounded or egg-shaped, 

 dotted with grayish dots, on footstalks which are dotted and 

 hairy, branching, forming corymbs or heads with leaves be- 

 neath several of the lowermost footstalks. The fruit is some- 

 what hard and tough, but eatable and rather agreeable to the 

 taste. 



. This, like several other thorns, produces a great abundance 

 of fruit. It is ripe in September, and a small tree loaded with 

 it continues a very beautiful object, conspicuous at some dis- 

 tance, for several weeks. Each haw usually contains two pretty 

 large hemispherical stones or nuts, so that a single tree often 

 yields seed enough to produce plants sufficient for fifteen or 

 twenty rods of hedge. 



It is found, though less frequently than the white thorn, in 

 most parts of the State, and in all situations, except, I think, 

 very wet ground. 



These four species, with many varieties, especially on the 

 White and the Dotted-fruited, are all I have found in the State, 

 though probably others are to be found. They would seem to 

 promise better than any foreign species, for all the purposes to 

 which the thorn may be applied. 



One of the foreign species, the English Hawthorn, C. oxya- 

 c&ntha, distinguished for its deeply 3- or 5-lobed leaves and often 

 purplish blossoms, has been somewhat extensively introduced, 

 and flourishes perfectly well. 



XXVII. 2. THE PEAR. PYRUS. Lindley. 



A genus containing trees or shrubs with simple or compound, 

 serrate leaves ; spreading, terminal, simple or compound cymes 

 of white or rose-colored flowers, with awl-shaped, deciduous 

 bracts ; and fruit for the most part eatable. The calyx-tube is 

 pitcher-shaped ; the petals are roundish ; styles 5, rarely 2 or 3, 

 distinct or somewhat united at base ; pome fleshy or berry-like, 

 5- (rarely 2- or 3-) celled, with 2 seeds in each cell. 



