THE HAWTHOEN. 



Crattegus oxyacantha. Nat. Ord., 

 Rosacea. 



MONGST the many beautiful 

 plants of the hedgerow the 

 guelder-rose, with its large 

 heads of snowy blossoms, or, 

 later on, its crimson berries 

 scarcely to be distinguished 

 amongst its crimson foliage ; 

 the maple with its beautiful 

 leaf form and its bunches of 

 quaint fruit, or the bramble 

 with its silky blossoms and 

 masses of luscious fruit the 

 hawthorn must, we think, 

 be fairly given pre-eminence. 

 Its masses of white flowers, 

 the rich fragrance they yield, and the early season at 

 which they may be found, are all features that combine 

 to render it a general favourite. The hawthorn is known 

 botanically as the Crataegus oxyacantha. The genus, of 

 which this species is the only British representative, only 

 differs from Pi/rus, the genus containing the crab-apple 

 and pear, in some few minor points, and like that, is 

 spread over all the temperate region of the northern 

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