THE HAWTHORNS. 135 



clustered like cherry blossoms, but in miniature. 

 The berries are not much larger than peas ; they 

 are bright red, and ripen in Sep- 

 tember; many of them cling to the 

 boughs throughout the winter, but 

 eventually become brown and sere. 

 The Washington thorn is hardly 

 common, but is found generally scat- 

 tered through the South from the 



-~ . English Hawthorn. 



valley of the Potomac Kiver to 

 northern Georgia and Alabama, and from Tennessee 

 and Kentucky to the valley of the lower Wabash 

 River in Illinois.* It is hardy northward to south- 

 ern New England, where it flowers later than any 

 of the other thorns. It is a favorite among gar- 

 deners for hedges, and it has long since found its 

 way into European gardens. It does not quite equal 

 the English hawthorn {Crataegus oxyacaniha\\ how- 

 ever, for this species has a most charming pink (some- 

 times white) flower, which has been sung by all the 

 English poets. 



There is a narrow-leaved thorn {Crataegus spathu- 

 lata), closely related to the Washington thorn, which 



* It has also found its way into Bucks County, Pa. 



f There are several large, handsome English hawthorns in the 

 Public Garden, Boston, some of which are double-flowered. This 

 species is occasionally found in Bucks County, Pa., running wild. 



