Cratcegus punctata, 
THE DOTTED-FRUITED THORN. 
Synonymes. 
Cratcegus punctata, 
Neflier a fruits pointilles, 
Geflecte Mispel, 
Dotted-fruited Thorn, Thorn-bush, 
De Candolle, Prodr:)mus. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Torrey and Gray, Flora of North America. 
France. 
Germany. 
Britain and Anglo- America. 
Engravings. Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii., figs. 569 and 570, in p. 854 et vi., pi. 123 j and the figures below. 
Specific Characters. Leaves obovate-wedge-shaped, glabrous, serrated. Calyx a little villose ; its sepals 
awl-shaped, entire. Fruit usually dotted. De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Description. 
HE Crataegus punctata is a 
2 H H M, small tree, growing to a 
I)? U M> height of twelve to twenty- 
jSSli five feet, in swamps, and on 
the borders of woods throughout the United States ; 
is particularly abundant in Virginia and Carolina; 
and was introduced into Britain in 1746, where it is 
generally found in collections. Its wood is very hard, 
and is employed by the Indians of the west coast of 
America, to make wedges for splitting logs. Its 
leaves are light-green, membranaceous, rather thick, 
firm, from two to three inches long, and when old, are usually hairy beneath. 
The flowers are white, and appear in May or June. The fruit is globose, half 
of an inch or more in diameter, yellowish or of a dull-red colour, dotted, rather 
pleasant to the taste, but tough, ripens in September, and falls with the leaves. 
Varieties. In the British gardens, there are three forms of this species, desig- 
nated as follows : 
1. C. p. rubra, Loudon. Red-fruited Dotted Thorn, a spreading tree, growing 
to the height of thirty feet, with red fruit, and when old, has but few spines. 
2. C. p. rubra stricta, Loudon. Red-fruited Erect-branched Dotted Thorn, 
differing from the above in being more fastigiate in its growth. 
3. C. p. aurea, Loudon. Yellow-fruited Dotted Thorn, a fastigiate-growing 
tree, with yellow fruit, and when old, with but few thorns. 
