XLV. 
THE THORN. 
THE THORN (Crategus).—This genus belongs to Icosandria 
Di-Pentagynia in the Linnean system, and to Rosacee in the 
natural order of plants. 
The species are all small-growing ornamental trees, quite 
hardy, and remarkable for their number, profusion of blossom, 
fragrance, and display of fruit, of the various shades of scariet, 
red, purple, yellow, and green, ranging from the size of a pea 
up to that of a small apple. 
The species are chiefly natives of America and Europe, but 
some are to be found in all quarters of the world. Respect- 
ing this genus Loudon says, “If a man were to be exiled to 
an estate without a single tree or shrub on it, with permission 
to choose only one genus of ligneous plants to form all his 
plantations, shrubberies, orchards, and flower gardens, where 
would he find a genus that would afford him so many resources 
as that of the Crategus?” This genus of dwarf ornamental 
trees adapted for the decoration of gardens and pleasure- 
grounds, even of those of limited extent, became popular by 
the numerous rare and interesting specimens brought under 
the notice of the British public, at an early period in the 
present century, in the arboretum of the Horticultural Society 
at Chiswick, and in that at Hackney, where the numerous 
species of the rarer sorts were brought to a fruit-bearing state. 
Crategus Oxyacantha (L.): The Common Hawthorn. (Syn. 
Hedge-thorn, Maybush, White Thorn, Quick, Quickset.)—This 
is the most common and useful species of the genus. It is 
met with in many parts throughout Europe, and appreciated 
