DOTTED HAW. 319 



racemes. Fruit dark blue or almost black, sweet and juicy. 

 A shrub or small tree which in the eastern limits of its range 

 is hardly distinguishable from some of the broad-leaved forms 

 of Amelanchicr canadensis. 



Distribution. From the valley of the Yukon river south 

 through the coast ranges to southern California and east to 

 Michigan and Nebraska. 



Propagation. By seeds and suckers. 



Properties of wood. Very heavy, hard and close grained, 

 light brown. Specific gravity 0.8262; weight of a cubic foot 

 51.55 pounds. 



Uses. The fruit as found in the wild state is gathered by the 

 Indians and used by them for food. 



Genus CRAT^GUS. 



Leaves alternate, simple, lobed or pinnatifid. Flowers 

 mostly in terminal corymbs, regular, perfect, white or rarely 

 rose colored. Fruit a fleshy, drupe-like pome, containing one 

 to five hard one-seeded carpels, and having on its summit the 

 persistent calyx lobes. Small trees or shrubs, armed with 

 thorns. It is very difficult to identify accurately the species of 

 this genus on account of their varying and conflicting charac- 

 teristics. There are undoubtedly six or more species in Minne- 

 sota, and they are now being studied by specialists, but are not 

 accurately defined. 



Propagation. The fruit should be stratified over winter be- 

 fore sowing the seeds, which seldom germinate until the second 

 year. 



Crataegus punctata. Dotted Haw. 



Leaves wedge-obovate or ovate, midribs and principal veins 

 prominent on lower surface. Petioles more or less winged. 

 Flowers in broad corymbs, appearing about June ist. Each 

 flower has twenty stamens, which characteristic seems to be 

 constant. Fruit dull red, one-half to one inch in length, flesh 

 dry; ripens in late autumn. A tree twenty to thirty feet high, 

 with branches that come out nearly at right angles, and often 

 a broad flat top. Thorns on the older branches and trunks 

 generally compound and gray in color. 



