478 OUR WOODLAND TREES. 
species—in leaf, flower, and fruit, the Hawthorn 
is subject to numerous variations—is, roughly, 
what is called trifid, or three-cleft, the three 
clefts, or lobes, being separated by very deep 
incisions, which give to the leaf its distinctly 
three-lobed form. But the upper one of the three 
lobes is again divided into three smaller lobes, 
each lobe, or division of a lobe, throughout the 
leaf, being more or less deeply indented, except in 
the inner sides of the clefts. The venation is very 
regular and beautiful, a vein from the mid-vein 
passing to the apex of each lobe or division of the 
leaf, and giving origin in its course to veinlets, 
with reticulation over all the leafy surface. The 
corymbs of white, five-petalled flowers, some- 
times tinged with pink, appear usually in May, 
giving origin to a common name of the Hawthorn 
blossom ; and the well-known ‘ haws,’ red-coloured 
or scarlet, are perfected in September, and add a 
distinct charm to woodland and hedgerow. 
For its quality of extreme hardness the wood of 
the Hawthorn is valuable for many purposes for 
which its ordinarily small size enables it to be 
employed, as for tool-handles, mallets, and walk- 
