262 ROSACEA 



turners, and in the old days of archery it was considered as inferior only to 

 that of the yew for bows. The bark and roots are said by Professor Lindley 

 to contain so large a quantity of essential oil of almonds, as to yield as large 

 an amount of hydrocyanic acid as an equal quantity of the leaves of the 

 cherry laurel. 



6. White Beam-tree (P. aria). — Leaves egg-shaped, serrated, cut, or 

 pinnatifid, or partly pinnate, white and downy beneath ; flowers in corymbs ; 

 fruit globular. Plant perennial. This is a small tree, easily distinguished 

 by the beautiful white hue of the under surface of its leaves. This whiteness 

 is very ornamental, for when the wind turns up the foliage it contrasts with 

 the rich green upper surface, and is conspicuous even at a great distance, 

 while the young shoots look white as snow in their dense covering of down. 

 The tree is not very large, nor is it very frequent. It grows chiefly in 

 mountainous woods, especially where the soil is of chalk or limestone. The 

 fruit is red, rather larger than that of the Mountain Ash, and the flowers, 

 too, are large and white, appearing in May and June. The berries are much 

 eaten by birds, and if kept till decay commences, are palatable to man. The 

 wood is used for various purposes, and has from earliest ages been valued 

 for axles and shafts ; hence its name of Beam-tree. There are several 

 varieties of this plant. 



16. Medlar (Mdspilus). 



Common Medlar {M. germdnica). — Leaves lanceolate, undivided, 

 downy beneath ; flowers solitary. Plant perennial. A variety of the Medlar 

 is sometimes found in which the leaves are doubly serrated. The tree occurs 

 rarely in hedges in various parts of this kingdom, and though not a true 

 native, it appears to have been long naturalized, in the Midlands and southern 

 England. The tree is not largely cultivated in this country. One or two 

 varieties, chiefly that called the Dutch Medlar, are to be found in gardens 

 and orchards, where the crooked branches may be seen in May, bearing their 

 large white flowers. The fruit, austere and hard as it is while on the tree, 

 has a very pleasant acid flavour when gathered and ripened almost to decay. 

 Its hardness suggested the name from the Greek, signifying half bullet. 

 The tree is called in Germany Der Mispelhaum, and it is the Mispelhoom of 

 the Dutch. The Italians term it NespOlo ; and the French name N(fiier is 

 from the Celtic naff, which signifies truncate, and alludes to the form of the 

 fruit. The tree called Savoy Medlar belongs to another genus of plants. 

 Some Canadian Medlar-trees produce excellent fruits. 



The Medlar was a fruit much prized by our forefathers, and supposed by 

 them to have various medicinal virtues, among others that of strengthening 

 the memory. The dried leaves were also powdered and laid on wounds, and 

 various salves and plasters were made of the dried fruits. Chaucer says : — 



' ' And as I stood and cast aside mine eie, 

 I was ware of the fairest medle-tree, 

 That ever yet in al my life I sie." 



17. Hawthorn, Whitethorn, or May {Crakegus). 



Hawthorn (C. oxyacdntha). — Leaves smooth, cut into from 3 to 5 

 deeply serrated segments, wedge-shaped at the base ; flowers corymbose. 



