ADDISONIA 33 
(Plate 177) 
CRATAEGUS PHAENOPYRUM 
Washington Thorn 
Native of the southeastern United States 
Family MaLackAk APPLE Family 
Mespilus Phaenopyrum L. f, Suppl. 254. 1781. 
Crataegus cordata Ait. Hort. Kew. 2: 168. 1789. fe Mespilus cordata Mill. 
Crataegus Phaenopyrum Medic. Gesch. Bot. 83. 
Of our native ornamental woody plants ae is one of the showiest. 
Its flowers appear in great abundance, commonly early in June, 
later than any other of the thorns; in late fall the foliage changes to 
brilliant shades of scarlet and orange, which, with the brightness of 
the abundant fruit, make of this a striking feature in the landscape. 
It is of rapid and symmetric growth, unusually free from the 
attacks of fungous diseases, and is perfectly hardy. Its fruit is not 
as large as that of many other species, but its great abundance 
and the brilliancy of its coloring make this thorn more attractive 
than some of the larger-fruited forms. 
This species was known in Europe toward the end of the seven- 
teenth century. It is in cultivation in this country, but not to 
the extent that its beauty and attractiveness deserve. The plant 
from which the illustration was prepared was secured by exchange 
with the Buffalo Botanic Garden in 1901, and is now in the frutice- 
tum eee: of the New York Botanical Garden. 
he Washington thorn is a tree often twenty feet or more tall, 
oblong in outline, with erect or strongly ascending branches. 
The branchlets are armed with slender spines up to two inches 
long, at first of a bright chestnut-brown, later darker. The leaves 
have petioles up to one and a half inches long. The blades a 
bieedly-< ovate to triangular, up to two inches long and an inch a 
e; they are acute at the apex, and truncate or slightly 
wedge- aleaped or heart-shaped at the base; the — is three- 
lobed or three-five-cleft and is sharply serrate, except at the base. 
he corymbs are few-flowered, and appear after the aioe are fully 
gro he petals are obovate. The fruit is almost globose, up 
to a quarter of an inch in diameter, and is of a poet scarlet. 
ORGE V. NASH. 
EXPLANATION OF Pate. Fig. 1.—Flowering branch. Fig. 2.—Fruiting 
branch, 
