THE HAWTHORNS 155 



conscious agents of seed distribution tliat choke-cherry 

 pits are scattered. From the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains 

 this worthless httle choke cherry is found in all wooded 

 regions. 



THE HAWTHORNS 



In the same rose family with apples, plums, cherries, and 

 service-berries is listed the genus Crataegus, a shrubby race 

 of trees, undersized as a rule, with stiff, zigzag branches 

 set with thorns. Over one hundred species have been 

 described by Charles Sargent in his "Manual of Trees of 

 North America," published in 1905. 



The centre of distribution for the hawthorn is undoubt- 

 edly the eastern United States. From Newfoundland 

 the woods are full of them. A few species belong to the 

 Rocky Mountain region, a few to the states farther west. 

 Europe and Asia each has a few native hawthorns. 



The English Hawthorn 



Crataegus oxyacantha, Linn. 



The English hawthorn is the best-known species in the 

 world. When it first came into cultivation, no man knows. 

 Englishmen will tell you it has always formed the hedge- 

 rows of the countryside. This is the "blossoming May." 

 The sweetness of its flowers, snowy white, or pink, or 

 rose-colored, turns rural England into a garden, while 

 linnets and skylarks fill the green lanes with music. 



American "forests primeval" were swept with the 

 woodman's axe before the hawthorns had iheir chance to 

 assert themselves sufficiently to attract the attention of 



