CRAT^GUS 



CRAT^GUS 



879 



fecunda, C. pruinosa, C. Carrierei, C. persistens, C. 

 Oxyacantha, C. monogyna and others persist on the 

 trees until late into the winter, while some species, as 

 C. Arnoldiana, ripen their large fruits, which soon drop, 

 in August; also C. dahurica, C. sanguined and the black- 

 fruited C. nigra ripen about the same time, and C. 

 submollis only a little later, but the earliest of all is the 

 southern C. sestivalis, which ripens its fruits in May. 

 This and the blue-fruited C. brachyacantha are among 

 the most decorative hawthorns for the southern states. 

 The fruit of C. xstivalis, and that of C. mexicana is 

 made into preserves and jellies; also the fruits of the 

 Molles group are suited for jelly-making, and in South 

 Carolina an excellent jelly similar in quality and taste 

 to Guava jelly is made from the fruits of some species 

 of the Flavse group. In Europe, C. monogyna and C. 

 Oxyacantha are counted among the best hedge plants; 

 also many American species like C. Phsenopyrum, C. 

 Crus-galli and possibly C. macracantha, C. intricata, C. 

 pastorum, C. rotundifolia, may be used for hedges, but 

 they are stronger growers and cannot be pruned so 

 closely as the European species. The hawthorns grow 

 well in exposed positions and as a rule do not like much 

 shade; they are not particular as to the soil, but grow 

 best in limestone soil, also in a rich, loamy, somewhat 

 moist one, and even in strong clay. Propagated by 

 seeds, sown in fall or stratified; before stratifying, most 

 of the pulp may be removed by laying the fruits in 

 shallow piles and allowing them to decay. Then they 

 are mixed with sand or sifted soil and buried in the 

 ground or kept in boxes in a cool cellar. The young 

 plants should not be allowed to remain over one year 

 in the seed-beds, as they form long tap-roots and are 

 then difficult to transplant. Varieties and rarer kinds 

 are easily budded or grafted on seedling stock of C. 

 Oxyacantha, or other common strong-growing species. 

 The spines of crategus are modified branches (see 

 Fig. 1096). The fruits are pomes (Fig. 1097), with 

 structure similar to that of the apple. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



The American hawthorns are highly ornamental sub- 

 jects for the planting of parks and private estates. 

 The showy flowers in spring and early summer, the 

 conspicuous red, crimson, and scarlet fruits of nearly all 

 of them, which extend amongst the different species 

 from August to early winter and midwinter, and some 

 of the species markedly retain their fruits without 

 shrinkage of pulp or loss of color until early winter, 

 the absolute hardihood, and the bold rugged branch- 

 ing habits characteristic to most of them, make them 

 very interesting objects when their leafless forms are 

 outlined in a winter landscape. The landscape gardener 

 cannot make any mistake in planting them in liberal 

 quantities in private estates or public parks. 



They are easily transplanted. They are much bene- 

 fited by liberal pruning when transplanted from nursery 

 rows or from the woodland. The side branches should 

 be pruned in severely, and as the centers of good-sized 

 plants are likely to be full of intricate and congested 

 branches, these should be carefully thinned. In a young 

 state they should be grown to one stem whether they 

 are arborescent or shrubby species. Under this treat- 

 ment they make beautiful garden plants. 



The American hawthorns are almost invariably 

 found growing in heavy limestone clay. They may 

 occasionally overlap into sandy soil. In planting them 

 in sandy soil, it should be liberally enriched with well- 

 rotted manure, and they should be kept well mulched. 



The seeds of all of the species of American hawthorns 

 germinate slowly. None of the species germinates 

 before the second year after sowing, and many of the 

 seeds in the same "flat" will not germinate before the 

 third year. In many instances, part of the seeds germi- 

 nate the second year, and the remainder the third. The 

 seeds of Crataegus geneseensis have been known to be 



dormant for three years, and all come up thickly at the 

 same time. In some of the groups the seeds of the 

 species germinate more freely than in others. The 

 species in the Molles, Flabellatae and Tomentosae 

 groups germinate abundantly. The germination of the 

 species in the Pruinosae group have a much lower per- 



1097. Pomes of Crataegus, one of the large-fruited forms. 



(Half size.) 



centage than in the former. The species in the Intri- 

 catse group germinate badly. 



The fruit can be sown broadcast in beds without 

 any separation of the seeds, and heavily mulched until 

 the spring of the second year, when the mulching should 

 be removed. This method, however, is not considered 

 good, and has been given up. The best way is to soak 

 the fruits in water, and by maceration the seeds or 

 nutlets are separated from the pulp, and the seeds will 

 sink to the bottom of the tub or vessel. The seeds are 

 then dried in the sun as they can then be handled 

 easily. They are sown in "flats" of convenient size to 

 handle, and piled up in the corner of the shade house 

 and fitted tightly above each other to prevent mice 

 getting at them. During this period of rest they must 

 not be allowed to become dry. In the spring of the 

 second year they are spread out to allow the seeds to 

 germinate. Numbered zinc tags are nailed on the 

 "flats" and the corresponding numbers with the names 

 of the species are recorded. 



The American hawthorns can be grafted readily on 

 potted seedling stocks in the greenhouse in winter, any 

 of the species in the Crus-galli group being good to 

 use. They are grafted at the crown. This, however, 

 is an unnecessary operation. All of the species of Ameri- 

 can hawthorns (and there are over 900 of them) come 

 absolutely true from seed, and whilst they germinate 

 slowly, they start to grow rapidly into plants of good 

 stocky size from about two years after they germinate. 



Some of the species of American hawthorns have 

 highly colored f oh' age in the fall. The species in the 

 Pruinosa?, Medipximse and Intricatse groups have per- 

 haps the most highly colored foliage. Notable examples 

 are Crataegus opulens, C. diffusa, C. maineana, C. dis- 

 sona, C, cognata, C. conspecta, C. promissa, C. exornata, 

 C.perjucunda, C. faetida, and C. verecunda. 



The different species vary greatly in the time of 

 ripening their fruits and in the period of duration. 

 In many instances the fruit drops soon after ripening 

 and in others hangs on for a long period. A selection 



