WHITE THORN 



WHITE THORN. SCARLET HAW. SCARLET 

 FRUITED THORN 



Grata: giis coccinea. 



A low tree fifteen to twenty feet high with short stout trunk, 

 crooked spreading branches forming a broad flat head ; common 

 throughout the northern states. Roots fibrous. Found either in 

 thickets or solitary, in upland woods, in rocky pastures or near the 

 borders of streams. 



Bark. — Light brown, or ashy gray, slightly fissured surface broken 

 into small scales. Branchlefs at first light green, lustrous, later red- 

 dish or light brown or light gray, finally become armed with slender 

 straight or slightly curved, brown, shining, persistent spines one or 

 two inches long. 



Wood. — Brown, tinged with red ; heavy, hard and close-grained. 

 Sp. gr., 0.8618 ; weight of cu. ft., 53.71 lbs, 



Witiier Buds. — Globular, tiny, chestnut brown. Inner scales grow 

 with the growing shoot, becoming an inch long before they fall. 



Leaves. — Alternate, simple, broad-ovate, one to five inches long, 

 wedge-shaped, rounded or truncate at base, acutely cut or slightly 

 five to nine-lobed, sharply and finely serrate, acute. Feather-veined, 

 midrib prominent, primary veins strongest toward the base. They 

 come out of the bud, conduplicate, green ; when full grown they are 

 thin, smooth, shining, bright green above, paler green beneath. 

 They turn bright yellow in autumn. Petioles long, slender, grooved, 

 smooth or hairy. Stipules are leaf-like, serrate, acute, early decid- 

 uous. 



Flowers. — May, when leaves are nearly grown. Perfect, white, 

 borne in few-flowered corymbs, on slender pedicels ; vary in size 

 from one-half inch to one inch in diameter with strong and disagree- 

 able odor. 



Calyx. — Urn-shaped, five-lobed ; lobes much shorter than the 

 petals, finally reflexed, imbricate in bud. 



Petals. — Five, inserted on the calyx tube, white, obovate, erose, 

 imbricate in bud. 



Stamens. — Ten, inserted with the petals ; filaments thread-like ; 

 anthers purple, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. 



Pistil. — Ovary of two to five carpels, inserted in the bottom of the 

 calyx tube and united with it ; styles two to five ; stigmas capitate ; 

 ovules two. 



Fruit. — Drupe-like pome with bony stones, borne in umbels of two 

 or three ; bright scarlet, crowned with the calyx lobes ; globular or 

 slightly elongated, one-third to one-half an inch in diameter. Sep- 

 tember or October ; remains all winter, somewhat edible. 



143 



