THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 91 



Hawthorn thus has the better of thorn-apple as a classical 

 name but in America at least, thorn-apple is the name in com- 

 mon use. A few of the more characteristic species of this 

 genus stand out from' the rest with sufficient distinctness to 

 have acquired variations of the usual common name. Of these, 

 Crataegus crus-galli seems to have accumulated the greatest 

 collection. The long and slender thorns have gained for the 

 plant the name of "cock-spur thorn," reflected also in the speci- 

 fic name, as well as "pin-thorn" and "thorn-brush." "Red haw" 

 has reference to the fruits, which like the trees which bear 

 them, have been known as haws from the earliest times. 

 "Thorn plum" is apparently a name due to the failure of the 

 common people to distinguish between two very distinct types 

 of fruit. Crataegus mollis and C. tomentosa are also known 

 as red haws and the latter is also called "pear thorn", "pear 

 haw" and "thorn plum." "Black thorn" and "white thorn" 

 applied to this species are more properly applied elsewhere. 

 The first is sometimes used for C. coccinea, but it was origi- 

 nally the name of the European C. oxycantha while the black 

 thorn is referred to Primus spinosa. Crataegus punctata is 

 known as the "dotted-fruited thorn" because the fruits are 

 speckled with small dots, which are probably transformed 

 stomata. The "fire-thorn" is now regarded as a Cotoneaster. 

 The common name is a literal rendering of the specific pyra- 

 cantha. "Evergreen thorn" is self-explanatory though the 

 plant is not always covered with leaves in winter. "Christ's 

 thorn" obviously connects it with the crucifiction but the ac- 

 cent should be on the fiction; it had nothing to do with the 

 crown of thorns. 



The genus Prunus is usually made to contain the peaches 

 plums, and cherries. Prunus Americana and P. nigra are in- 

 discriminately known as "horse-plum" and "pomegrante" or 

 sometimes "plum granite." The first named species is also 



