98 THE HAWTHORN. 



Occasionally, but rarely, the Hawthorn assumes a pendent 

 or " weeping" character. There is a fine tree of this kind 

 in the garden which belonged to the Eegent Murray 

 in Scotland, and it is said to be very beautiful. Like 

 many other trees, the Hawthorn is occasionally liable to 

 an unhealthy mode of growth, when tufts or clusters of 

 twigs are produced, resembling, if observed at a little 

 distance, a large bird's nest. Mr. Anderson, the late 

 curator of the Chelsea Botanic Garden, had the curiosity 

 to graft young Thorns with some of these twigs, and found, 

 in the course of two or three years, that they produced 

 beautiful weeping branches. 1 



It has already been said that the varieties of the Haw- 

 thorn are very numerous, and no less strongly marked. 

 Difference of soil and situation produces yet more remark- 

 able contrasts. A bushy tree in the rich lowlands, it be- 

 comes, as it creeps up the mountains, gnarled, ragged, and 

 fantastic in form, and finally dwindles into a mere stunted 

 and knotted shrub. 



The spines, or thorns, which form a characteristic feature 

 of this tree, are to be distinguished from prickles, such as 

 those which invest the stems of the rose or bramble. 

 The latter are attached only to the surface of the stem, 

 and even to that sometimes not very firmly. Thorns, 

 however, are to be considered as imperfect branches, being 

 furnished with proper bark, wood, and pith of their 

 own. They enlarge in the second year of their growth, 

 and for the most part produce buds and leaves, and 

 eventually flowers and fruit ; whereas prickles never in- 

 crease in size after the first year, and are not converted 

 into branches. 



Not even is the colour of the blossom which gives the 

 name " White-thorn " free from variations. Indeed, most 

 commonly it assumes a pink hue in fading ; but in gardens 



1 Similar results followed from budding, or grafting, from the 

 tufts produced by the Elm ( Ulmus campestris). 



