TREES GROWING IN RICH SOIL. 



167 



blossoms delicately tinted as those of the scarlet thorn, there are 

 several other little points of distinction between them which are 

 in its favour. Its flowers are larger, and its fruit is edible and 

 agreeable to the taste. Perhaps its chief charm, however, is that 

 the bright, cheery appearing fruit remains on the branches all 

 winter, or until the leaf-buds unfold in the spring. Such a feature 

 as this is much thought of when a tree is chosen to be cultivated 

 for ornament. The black thorn has, it must be confessed, a 

 rather changeable nature and varies greatly in the style of its 

 foliage and fruit. Not infrequently it descends to a shrub. 

 This may be nothing more than a clever adaptation to circum- 

 stances, as it is more widely distributed through different local- 

 ities than any other one of the American thorns. 



DOTTED-FRUITED THORN. COMMON THORN. LARGE- 

 FRUITED THORN. {Plate LXXXV.) 

 CratcbgHS punctata. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Af>ple. Flat-tof>ped^ 12-30 yV^/. New England ivesiuiayd May. 



compact. and southward to Ga. Fruit ; Sept. 



Bark: reddish brown; rough. Thorns: when present one to two inches 

 long; curved or branched. Stipnlfs : lanceolate. Leaves: simple; alternate ; 

 obovate; obtuse or slightly pointed at tlic apex, the base tapering and forming 

 on each side a margin to the petiole ; sharply and unevenly serrate, or even 

 deeply cut towards the apex, sometimes entire at the base ; thick ; liglit green 

 and downy when young, becoming grey-green and dull at maturity and fre- 

 quently remaining pubescent al)out tiie prominent ril)s. J'hnudrs : white; 

 usually from eight to fifteen growing in a leafy corymb. Fruit: one-half to 

 three-quarters of an inch in diameter; yellow and dull red with white dots 

 upon the surface; slightly edible. 



A bit of personal history that is usu- 

 ally quoted in connection with this 

 charming little tree is that it was intro- 

 duced into English gardens by the 

 Duke of Argyll. And for ornamenta- 

 tion hardly one more appropriate could 

 have been chosen. It is of good habit in 

 cultivation, and, when attention is paid 

 to it, it grows very quaintly; its head 

 being broad and flat. As its orai^ige 



Cratctgus punctiita. 



