White and Greenish 



Common Hawthorn; White Thorn ; Scarlet- 

 fruited Thorn; Red Haw; Mayflowers 



{Crataegus coccinea) Apple family 



Flo7iiers—V^h\\.e, rarely pinkish, usually less than i in. across, 

 numerous, in terminal corymbs. Calyx 5-lobed ; 5 spread- 

 ing petals inserted in its throat ; numerous stamens ; styles 

 3 to 5. Stem : A shrub or small tree, rarely attaining 30 ft. 

 in height {Kratos — strength, in reference to hardness and 

 toughness of the wood) ; branches spreading, and beset with 

 stout spines (thorns) nearly 2 in. long. Leaves : Alternate, 

 petioled, 2 to 3 in. long, ovate, very sharply cut or lobed, 

 the teeth glandular-tipped. Frti/f : Coral " red, round or 

 oval ; not edible. 



Preferred Habitat — Thickets, fence-rows, woodland borders. 



Flowering Season — Mav. 



Distribution — Newfoundland and Manitoba southward to the 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



" The fair maid who, the first of May, 

 Goes to the fields at breal< of day 

 And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree 

 Will ever after handsome be." 



Here is a popular recipe omitted from that volume of heart- 

 to-heart talks entitled " How to Be Pretty though Plain "! 



The sombre-thoughted Scotchman, looking for trouble, 

 tersely observes : 



" Mony haws, 

 Moiiy snaws." 



But in delicious, blossoming May, when the joy of living fairly 

 intoxicates one, and every bird's throat is swelling with happy 

 music, who but a Calvinist would croak dismal prophecies.^ In 

 Ireland, old crones tell marvellous tales about the hawthorns, 

 and the banshees which have a predilection for them. So much 

 for folk-lore. 



I As one might suspect from the rather disagreeable odor of 



these blossoms, they are most attractive to tlies and beetles, 

 which, carrying pollen from older tlowers, leave some on the 



I stigmas that are already mature in newly-opened ones. A con- 



' cave nectar-secreting disk, not concealed by the filaments in this 



case, is eagerly pilfered by numerous little short-lipped insects 

 which render no benefit in return ; but many others assist in 

 self-pollination after the anthers ripen. The splendid monarch 

 butterfly {Anosia plexippiis), the banded purple (Basilarclria 



I arthewis), whose caterpillar feeds on hawthorn foliage, and the 



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