ROSE FAMILY 



Calyx. Urn-shaped, more or less tomentose, five-lobed ; lobes 

 acute, finally reflexed, persistent, imbricate in bud. 



Corolla. Petals five, obovate, erose, inserted on the calyx, im- 

 bricate in bud. 



Stamens. Fifteen to twenty, inserted with the petals ; filaments 

 thread-like ; anthers introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudi- 

 nally. 



Pistils. Ovary of two to five carpels inserted in the bottom of the 

 calyx tube, united with it ; styles two to five. 



Fruit. Drupe-like pome with bony seeds, globular or elongated, 

 crowned with the calyx lobes, dull red, sometimes yellow, marked 

 by many small white spots, three-fourths to one inch in length ; 

 flesh thin and dry; nutlets rounded and grooved on the back. 

 Ripens in September and falls at once. Somewhat edible. 



All the thorns are trees of the pasture lands. The com- 

 mon story of them all is that they love the moist, rich, alluvial 

 soil, but failing that they will grow in upland fields, not soli- 

 tary only but in thickets. Even the best of them in its best 

 estate and in that most favoring region on this continent, 

 northern Louisiana and Texas, can only reach the height of 

 thirty feet, hence they are doomed in the forest to become of 

 the second grade and to grow in the shade. In the forest 

 they are outclassed by many a rapid grower, but in the 

 pastures, not so. The seeds of ash, maple, and willow may 

 lodge in the pasture land, they may find congenial soil and 

 favoring climate, but they have no protection against the 

 grazing flocks and they yield in the contest. But the thorns 

 present so sharp a defence that in time they triumph over the 

 hard conditions and not only live but flourish. 



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