THE SPINDLE-TREE AND THE BUCKTHORNS 883 



spicuous. They have four greenish-white 

 petals, projecting in the form of a cross 

 from the margin of a fleshy, central disc. 

 Four stamens stand erect upon this disc, 

 alternating with the petals, and in the 

 centre of all is the pistil. Nectar lies 

 exposed upon the disc. The insect visitors 

 are chiefly flics. The fruit is, as already 

 indicated, a four-celled capsule, rosy pink 

 in colour, which splits open lengthways 

 of each cell, exposing one or two orange- 

 coloured globular bodies in each. These 

 are the seeds, in pulpy coating, rendered 

 thereby attractive. They are eagerly 

 extracted by blackbirds and thrushes, but 

 are poisonous to man. 



THE BUCKTHORN'S 



There are two of these. In general 

 character they are much ahke, but a closer 

 scrutiny shows many and well-defined 

 differences. Both may become small trees, 

 but they are usually met with as shrubs. 

 They are the Common Buck- 

 thorn, also spoken of as the 

 Purging Buckthorn ; and the 

 Alder Buckthorn, or Breaking 

 Buckthorn. The name Buck- 

 thorn is but an AngHcised mis- 

 speUing of the German " Bux- 

 d )rn," which is Box thorn, or 

 thorny Box. 



The Common Buckthorn has a 

 preference for a chalky or lime- 

 stone soil. It possesses thorns, 

 and for this reason, in the leafless 

 condition, may be mistaken 

 casually for the common Sloe, 

 or Blackthorn. The appear- 

 ance and arrangement of the 

 buds will at once serve to dis- 

 tinguish these two. Those of 

 the Blackthorn are rounded 

 and blunt, frequently occur in 

 clusters, and are arranged 

 spirally upon the twig. The 

 buds of the Common Buckthorn 

 are long and pointed, pressed 

 up against the twig, on which 

 they are arranged in nearly 

 opposite pairs, ha\nng this pecu- 

 liarity that they seem as though 

 they had been slightly pushed 

 out of position. They are dark 

 brown in colour, and are pro- 

 tected by scales. A thorn fre- 



quently appears at the end of the shoot, 

 projecting between two tightly-pressing 

 buds. When these buds grow out into 

 shoots, one on either side, the thorn 

 remains stancUng in the fork which 

 results. 



The leaves are a broad oval, rcmnded at 

 the base, with a supplementary point 

 attached at the apex. Three pairs of 

 secondary ribs branch out from the mid- 

 rib, but from the lower half of it only. 

 These all curve forward, converging to- 

 wards the apex in a manner similar to 

 those of the Dogwood. The margin is very 

 finely serrated. The flowers, which grow 

 in tufts at the base of the young shoots, 

 have four very minute greenish petals. 

 Pollen-bearing flowers here are distinct 

 from those producing fruit, and these, as 

 a rule, appear on different shrubs. Some 

 shrubs, in consequence, yield no autumn 

 fruit. The fruits are bunched at the base 

 of the current year's shoots. They are 



■J lLO*L.KS OK ALUl.K BLCKTllOKN. 



