176 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
named because they were raised from seeds. The Newton Pippin, 
grafted on stocks found in other parts, assumes the character of 
the stock in a short time. It lives to a great age, and is very 
prolific. 
The wood is used for turning by the wheelwright and the cabinet- 
maker. 
EssENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS :— 
107. Pyrus Malus, L.—Tree, branched, leaves ovate, serrate, shiny, 
or downy below, flowers white or pink, in sessile umbels, fruit yellow, 
globose, tapered below, styles united below. 
Hawthorn (Crategus Oxyacantha, L.) 
Widespread and common, it is not unnatural to find this plant is 
represented in Preglacial, Interglacial, and Neolithic deposits. It is 
confined to the Northern Temperate Zone in Europe, N. Africa, N. 
and W. Asia, eastward to the Himalayas. In N. America it is an 
introduction. It is found in every part of Great Britain, except the 
Orkneys, and in Yorkshire it is found at the height of 1800 ft. It is 
native in Ireland, but is often only planted, and Watson says, ‘‘ few 
botanists regard it as being more wild in North Britain than a casual 
straggler probably brought from the hedgerows by birds”. 
The Hawthorn is essentially a hedgerow plant to-day, being the 
main plant used in forming hedges all over the country. Where 
hedges are not cut and layered it grows to a good height and spreads 
extensively. When grown singly too, as in parks in the open, it is 
a graceful tree or shrub. 
The first Latin name is a transliteration of the Greek name of 
the plant, and the second one is a reminder, if one has not made 
this discovery personally, of the sharpness of the long - pointed 
thorns or modified branches, the English name summarizing this and 
the character of the fruits as implied in “shaw”, which really means 
hedge. 
The May or Hawthorn is recognized by its abundance of white 
blossom in May or June, and the scarlet berries or ‘“‘haws” in winter, 
which begin to mature in August and September. The typical thorns 
or spines also serve to distinguish it, hedges being mainly composed 
of Hawthorn or thorn bushes in many districts. In this state it is 
closely branched, and the trunks are generally dwarf, being “ layered” 
periodically. It is, when a tree, often 30 ft. high, growing in the open. 
The branches are dense or loose, with slender twigs which droop or 
