78 HOW TO KNOW WILD FRUITS 



apples were used for bait. " When I was a 

 boy/' said an elderly man to me only the 

 other day, '^we used to dig narrow paths in 

 the snow ; set up two sticks with a string 

 stretched across them, and a loop of horsehair 

 hanging from the string ; scatter Thorn-apples 

 along the path ; and await results. Many a 

 plump bird have we found the next morning, 

 unable to free himself from the horsehair loop, 

 through which he endeavored to reach the 

 edible fruits beyond." 



PEAR THORN 



Crataegus tomentosa Apple Family 



Fruit. — The pear-shaped, seldom round, drupe- 

 like pome is red or orange-red. It is crowned 

 by the erect calyx lobes. The flesh is thin and 

 the seeds are bony. They are rounded, and 

 have on the back two faint grooves. September, 

 October, and persistent. 



Leaves. — The leaves are firm and leathery, 

 and are borne on petioles which are margined 

 to the base by the tapering leaves. The margin 

 is doubly serrate, and sometimes so deeply cut 



