ROSE FAMILY 



Few of the Nantucket trees or even plants, combine, 

 from so many viewpoints, as these Cockspur Thorns the 

 essence of Nantucket's struggle against heavy odds. Some 

 are trim bushes or low flat-topped trees that have sprung 

 up spontaneously here and there and are remarkable for 

 the symmetry of their spreading branches, that hide long 

 grey prickles by sharply toothed leaves, beautiful in their 

 shiningness. Handsome bushes, these, both in the spring 

 when the clustres of fragrant whitish flowers decorate the 

 almost leafless branches and later, when the flowers have 

 been replaced by bright red fruit, with the remains of 

 the withered calyx at their summit and the leaves have 

 turned to a beautiful dark red. But I am not thinking of 

 these, which are "natives," so much as of the introduced 

 Cockspur Thorn trees, whose trunks are draped with 

 long grey moss (Usnea barbata), and blotched with patches 

 of green or russet-yellow lichens. Their almost bare upper 

 branches, grey and gnarled and interlocked from beating 

 in the heavy winter winds, fan the air, as they alternately 

 rise and fall in the breeze. These have fought and been 

 more than conquerors. "Only God can make a tree." 



The Cockspur Thorn offers at present one of the most 

 puzzling botanical studies on the Island. 



A drug, made from this tree, is used in the treatment of 

 heart-trouble. 



ROSACES ROSE FAMILY 



Fragaria virginiana, Duchesne 



White Wild Strawberry, 



Virginia Strawberry, 

 April-June Scarlet Strawberry. 



Fragaria: Latin for fragrance, alluding to the fragrance of 



the fruit. 

 Virginiana: Latin for Virginian. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil, especially near, 

 the shore; usually in grassy places, sometimes in pure sand. 



