236 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



GUNUS XV— R A T iE G U S. {Linn.), Lindley. 



Calyx-tube urceolate, adhering to the ovary ; lamina superior, 

 divided into 5 short lobes or teeth. Petals 5, inserted in the throat 

 of the calyx, orbicular, spreading. Stamens numerous, inserted 

 with the petals. Ovary inferior, 1- to 5-celled, each cell containing 

 2 erect ovules. Styles 1 to 5, distinct. Fruit ovoid, with the calyx- 

 segments deciduous or persistent and withering, open at the apex, 

 where there is a concavity narrower than the widest part of the 

 fruit ; fleshy, containing 1 to 5 bony stones or pyrenes immersed in 

 the pulp, and each containing a single seed. 



Small spiny trees or shrubs, with simple leaves which are often 

 cut or lobed, and white or pink flowers in corymbose cymes, rarely 

 solitary. Bracts deciduous. 



This genus is named from the hardness and toughness of its wood — cparoc {craios) 

 strength. 



SPECIES I.— CRAT^GTJS OXYACANTHA. Linn. 

 Plates CCCCLXXIX. CCCCLXXX. 



Branches with short spines. Leaves stalked, wedge-shaped at 

 the base, more or less deeply lobed, glabrous. Flowers numerous, 

 in a corymbose cyme. Calyx-segments not glandular. Styles 

 1 to 3. Fruit small, ovoid or sub-globular, dark red. 



Sub-Species I.— Crataegus oxyacanthoides. ThuUi. 



Plate CCCCLXXIX. 



C. Oxyacantha, var. a, Bah. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 116. 



C Oxyacantha, Linn. (Jacq.). Koch, Syn. FI. Germ, et Helv. ed. ii. p. 258. Fries, 



Sum. Veg. Scand. p. 42. Gr. & Godr. Fl. de Fr. Vol. I. p. 567. 

 Mespilus Oxyacantha, Willd. Wallr. Sched. Grit. p. 219. 



Leaves obovate or rhomboid-obovate, with 3 to 5 lobes, margins 

 slightly convex from the base to the apex of the first lobe, usually 

 serrated ; lobes scarcely longer than broad, generally rounded. 

 Peduncles commonly glabrous. Calyx-tube glabrous ; segments 

 glabrous, ovate-deltoid, acuminate, spreading-reflexed, with recurved 

 points. Styles usually 2 or 3. Fruit with 2 or 3 stones. 



In hedges and woods. Not very common ; plentiful in the forests 

 to the north of London ; as Enfield Chase, Epping, Hainault, and 

 Whittlebury Forests. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Shrub or Tree. Early Summer. 



