238 ENGLISH BOTANr, 



authors, who consider it a distinct species. It blooms about a 

 fortnight later than the last when they grow in the same locality, 

 and is recognisable at some distance by its less glossy leaves. I 

 have never seen C. oxyacanthoides coming up amongst the seedlings 

 of whitethorn in nursery-grounds ; so that, at all events, that form 

 does not seem to be produced from the seeds of C. monogyna: 

 whether the converse be the case I am unable to say. 



Common White-thorn^ or Hawthorn, May. 



French, Auhepine <X style. German, Engriffdeger Weissdom. 



The Hawthorn is known to every one, even to the London resident, as a hedge- 

 tree in the suburban lanes, and as the greatest ornament of tlie parks in the spring 

 season of the year. Were it not for the beautiful flowering-trees which are the glory 

 of our country, and which surprise and delight all strangers, the Loudon citizen would 

 scarcely know when spring begins, or be able in any measure to enjoy that most 

 delicious of all seasons of the year. The sweet-scented flowers in May, and the bright 

 red fruit in autumn, are a compensation for the absence of many niral pleasures which 

 can only be had in the country. The Hawthorn seldom attains any great size ; its chief 

 use is as a hedge-plant ; but Loudon mentions several from 20 to 30 feet in height, and 9 or 

 10 feet in circumference, and we know that in the London parks there are even now 

 trees of considerable size. Perhaps one of the most striking features of an English land- 

 scape is its thick well-grown hawthorn hedges, clipped so close, however, that it is seldom 

 that the white flowers are allowed to blossom luxuriantly in a well-kept hedge. Hedges 

 of this kind are called quickset hedges, and are often spoiled through inattention and 

 want of care. Wherever thorn hedges are planted and intended to thrive, the ground 

 ought to be trenched at least two feet in depth, manured, if poor, and the plants inserted 

 on a flat surface, so as to receive all the moisture that falls in the shape of rain. The 

 margin of the ditch ought always to be two or three feet from the jilants, and the earth 

 excavated instead of being raised into a ridge over the roots of the plants, where it can be 

 of little or no use to them, should be spread over the general surface so as to increase the 

 depth of nutritive soil. This mode of making hedges may somewhat increase the first 

 expense, but will be found the best in the end, as more speedily producing a permanent 

 fence and a substantial one. When grown to the required size, the hedge should be 

 cut every yeai-, or at least every alternate one. So kept, hedges of this plant will last 

 for very many years without requiring renewal ; but when allowed to grow ragged and 

 high, and then cut down in the usual manner, they are more or less injured and become 

 thin and poor, and form no suflicient protection. It sometimes happens that the 

 Hawthorn suffers severely from the attacks of insects, and the hedges and trees present 

 a very unsightly appearance, the leaves being entirely consumed, and withered bits 

 mixed with the cocoons of the caterpillar, which is the marauder, hanging from the 

 bare branches, when they ought to be in luxuriant foliage. Such has been the case 

 this present year 18G4 with nearly all the ]\Iay-trees in the London parks : they 

 flowered beautifully, but immediately after were attacked by the little larvae of a 

 moth, and present at this time (July) a miserable spectacle. Whether the buds 

 of the next year have been injured remains to be seen. Crattegus Oxyacantha was 

 known to the Greeks under the name of Pyracantha, although there is some dispute 

 as to whether it was our identical .species. Homer tells us that when Ulysses returned 

 to his father Laertes, the good old man had sent his servants into the woods to get 



