Crataegus i739 



shire, which was 60 ft. high and 9 ft. in girth in 1875 ; and another in Downton Park, 

 Herefordshire, which was over 50 ft. in height. He also mentioned others of con- 

 siderable size in the same counties. 



At Chideock Manor, Dorset, there is a remarkable thorn, about 25 ft. high and 

 6 ft. in girth, with wide-spreading branches and very pendulous branchlets, the 

 diameter of the spread being about 40 ft. 



In Lilford Park, Northamptonshire, where there are many fine thorns, 

 I measured, in 1906, a tree no less than 51 ft. in height, but only 5 ft. in girth. 



In the pleasure grounds of Hatfield House, Herts, there is a tree, which Henry 

 measured in 191 1 as 48 ft. by 3 ft. 8 in. In Ware Park, in the same county, 

 Mr. H. Clinton Baker found in 19 10 a tree 30 ft. by 12 ft. 5 in. 



Within the walls of Rothesay Castle, in the island of Bute, there was 

 growing in 1878 a remarkable thorn which Mr. James Kay described^ as follows: 

 " Though the tree was blown down thirty-nine years ago, it is still vigorous and 

 healthy. The extreme length of the tree as it now lies, measuring from the original 

 surface of the root, is 47 ft. ; present vertical height, 28 ft. ; circumference, three feet 

 up, 6 ft. 8 J in. ; four and a half feet up, 6 ft. 6^ in. ; six feet up, 6 ft. 10 in." 

 This tree dates from some time after 1685, when the Castle was burnt ; and its age 

 in 1878 did not probably exceed 190 years. 



Timber 



The wood of the hawthorn is white, often tinged with red ; and is hard, heavy, 

 and difficult to work, but with a fine grain and susceptible of a good polish. It is 

 not much used, as it seldom can be obtained of sufficient size, and is usually spoiled 

 by defects or knots. It is occasionally employed by turners, and was formerly found 

 suitable for teeth of mill-wheels. Mr. W. G. Smith, who made many woodcuts for 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle, states ^ that hawthorn wood is quite as good for engraving 

 as ordinary boxwood, and possesses a far better colour. The best box, however, 

 cuts a little smoother, as it has a somewhat closer grain. (H. J. E.) 



CRAT.^GUS OXYACANTHA, Hawthorn, Whitethorn 



Cratagus oxyacantha^ Linnaeus, Sp. PL 477 (1753) (in part); Jacquin, Fl. Austr. iii. 50, t. 292, 

 fig. 2 (1775); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. ii. 829 (1838); Willkomm, Forstl, Flora, 838 

 (1887); Mathieu, Flore Forestiere, 163 (1897); Schneider, Laubholzkunde, i. 780 (1906). 



Cratagus oxyacantha, var. vulgaris, De Candolle, Prod. ii. 628 (1825). 



Cratagus oxyacantha, sub-species oxyacanthoides. Hooker, Studenfs Flora, 1.21 (1870). 



Cratagus oxyacanthoides, Thuillier, Fl. Envir. Paris, 245 (1799). 



Mespilus oxyacantha, Crantz, Stirp. Austr. i. 39 (1763); AUioni, M. Pedem. ii. 141 (1785); 

 Willdenow, Enum. PI. Hort. Berol. i. 524 (1809); Ascherson and Graebner, Syn. Mittdeurop. 

 Flora, vi. 2, p. 25 (1906). 



A shrub or small tree, similar to C. monogyna in bark and habit. Young branchlets 

 glabrous. Leaves obovate or ovate, usually with three shallow lobes, the terminal 



■ Trans. Roy. Scot. Arbor. Soc. ix. 76 (1879). 

 2 In Gard. Chron. iii. 689, note (1875), it is stated that figures 142 and 143 on p. 688 were engraved on hawthorn wood. 



3 Cf. p. 1733) note i. 



