(128) 



Tool handles and machinery are sometimes made from the 

 wood of the serviceberry and the fruit is often eaten. The 

 tree grows wild from New Brunswick to Florida and is com- 

 mon in the Hudson Valley region. (Plate 146.) 



Swamp Serviceberry Amelanchier intermedia 



The swamp serviceberry is a smaller tree than the preced- 

 ing and it has other distinguishing characteristics. It rarely 

 forms such a symmetrical tree as the common serviceberry, 

 and is usually spindly or scraggy when growing in a crowded 

 forest; it may often be found with several trunks arising 

 from the same point, and is more commonly a shrub than a 

 tree. 



When the leaves and twigs are very young they are 

 covered with a growth of dense white wool, but most of this 

 wool is shed as they grow older. In outline the leaf-blades 

 are elliptic or oblong, and they are very rarely heart-shaped 

 at the base. The margins are toothed except towards the 

 lower end of the leaf-blade where the teeth are often want- 

 ing. Before the leaves are fully expanded the flowers come 

 out. They are very similar to those of the common service- 

 berry. The fruits of this sort are somewhat larger than the 

 preceding, and dark purple-black when ripe. 



The swamp serviceberry is of little economic importance. 

 It has a similar range to that of the serviceberry and is very 

 common all along the Hudson. 



Cock-spur Thorn Crataegus Crus-galli 



Most of the thorns are mere shrubs but a few are small 

 trees. They are armed with curved or straight prickles. 

 The cock-spur thorn is often a tree 20 feet high or more 

 with smooth, spreading branches. The leaf-blades are 

 elliptic or sometimes wider above the middle, dark green 

 and leathery when old. The leaf-margins are conspicuously 

 toothed at the apex but smooth at the base. In early sum- 

 mer the tree is covered with a profusion of white flowers. 

 These are usually arranged in little clusters of 7 or 8. In 



