WHITE THORN 



WHITE THORN. SCARLET HAW. SCARLET 

 FRUITED THORN 



Crat&gus cocclnea. 



A low tree fifteen to twenty feet high with short stout trunk, 

 crooked spreading branches forming a broad flat head ; common 

 throughout the northern states. Roots fibrous. Found either in 

 thickets or solitary, in upland woods, in rocky pastures or near the 

 borders of streams. 



Bark. Light brown, or ashy gray, slightly fissured surface broken 

 into small scales. Branchlets at first light green, lustrous, later red- 

 dish or light brown or light gray, finally become armed with slender 

 straight or slightly curved, brown, shining, persistent spines one or 

 two inches long. 



Wood. Brown, tinged with red ; heavy, hard and close-grained. 

 Sp. gr., 0.8618 ; weight of cu. ft., 53.71 Ibs. 



Winter Buds. Globular, tiny, chestnut brown. Inner scales grow 

 with the growing shoot, becoming an inch long before they fall. 



Leaves. Alternate, simple, broad-ovate, one to five inches long, 

 wedge-shaped, rounded or truncate at base, acutely cut or slightly 

 five to nine-lobed, sharply and finely serrate, acute. Feather-veined, 

 midrib prominent, primary veins strongest toward the base. They 

 come out of the bud, conduplicate, green ; when full grown they are 

 thin, smooth, shining, bright green above, paler green beneath. 

 They turn bright yellow in autumn. Petioles long, slender, grooved, 

 smooth or hairy. Stipules are leaf-like, serrate, acute, early decid- 

 uous. 



Flowers. May, when leaves are nearly grown. Perfect, white, 

 borne in few-flowered corymbs, on slender pedicels ; vary in size 

 from one-half inch to one inch in diameter with strong and disagree- 

 able odor. 



Calyx. Urn-shaped, five-lobed ; lobes much shorter than the 

 petals, finally reflexed, imbricate in bud. 



Petals. Five, inserted on the calyx tube, white, obovate, erose, 

 imbricate in bud. 



Stamens. Ten, inserted with the petals ; filaments thread-like ; 

 anthers purple, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. 



Pistil. Ovary of two to five carpels, inserted in the bottom of the 

 calyx tube and united with it ; styles two to five ; stigmas capitate ; 

 ovules two. 



Fruit. Drupe-like pome with bony stones, borne*in umbels of two 

 or three ; bright scarlet, crowned with the calyx lobes ; globular or 

 slightly elongated, one-third to one-half an inch in diameter. Sep- 

 tember or October ; remains all winter, some" :Viq t edible. 



143 



