CHAP. XLII. i?OSA N CEiE. PRU N NUS. 685 



Engravings. Vahl Fl. Dan , t. 926. ; and our plate in Vol. II. 



Derivation. The name of Mere-du-Bois is applied to the sloe thorn in France, in the neighbourhood 

 of Montargis, because it has been remarked there, that, when it was established on the margins of 

 woods, its underground shoots, and the suckers which sprang up from them, had a constant ten- 

 dency to extend the wood over the adjoining fields ; and that, if the proprietors of lands adjoining 

 forests, where the sloe thorn formed the boundary, did not take the precaution of stopping the pro- 

 gress of its roots, these would, in a short time, spread over their property ; and the suckers which 

 arose from them, by affording protection to the seeds of timber trees (which would be deposited 

 among them by the wind, or by birds), would ultimately, and at no great distance of time, cause 

 the whole to be covered with forests. {N. Du Ham.) We have observed the same thing to take 

 place in England, and have referred to one particular case in our Encyc. ofAgr., ed. 2. $ 4578. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Branches spiny. Leaves obovate, elliptical, or ovate ; 

 downy beneath, doubly and sharply toothed. Flowers produced before the 

 leaves or with them, white, and solitary. Calyx campanulate; with lobes blunt, 

 and longer than the tube. Fruit globose ; the flesh austere. {Dec. Prod., 

 ii. p. 532.) A low tree or shrub, a native of Europe and Asia. Seringe, 

 in Dec. Prod., has described the following forms of this species: — 



¥ P. s. 1 vulgaris Ser. P. spinosa Lois. (N. Du Ham., 5. p. 185. t. 54. 



f. 1.) The common Sloe Thorn. — Leaves obovate-elliptical. Fruit 



dark purple. This may be considered as the normal form of the 



species. 



¥ P. s. 2 foliis variegdtis Ser. The variegated-leaved Sloe Thorn. — This 



has been found wild ; but it is a plant of no beauty. 

 ¥ P. s. 3 microcdrpa Wallr. (Exs. Cent., 1. No. 45.) The small-fruited Sloe 

 Thorn. — Leaves elliptic, narrow, bluntish. Fruit smaller than that 

 of the species. 

 It P. s. 4 macrocdrpa Wallr. {Exs. Cent., 1. No. 45.) The large-fruited 

 Sloe Thorn. — Leaves obovate, bluntish. Fruit large, dark purple. 

 This has been found wild in Germany ; but Seringe doubts whether 

 it be not identical with P. domestica Juliana, or with P. insititia. 

 ¥ P. s. 5 ovdta Ser. (Blackw. Herb., t. 494.) The ovate-leaved Sloe 



Thorn. — Leaves ovate, roundish. 

 1 P. s. Qflore pleno. The double-flowered Sloe Thorn. — This is a very 

 beautiful variety, said to be in cultivation, and highly prized, in 

 China and Japan ; and found, some years ago, at Tarascon. The 

 flowers are white, and are produced in such abundance as to entirely 

 cover the branches. There are fine specimens of the double-blos- 

 somed sloe, in the Hammersmith Nursery, from 10 ft. to 12 ft. high ; 

 but they do not blossom there so freely as they are said to do in 

 Japan. This kind is well deserving of cultivation : but the other va- 

 rieties differ so slightly from each other, that they appear to us quite 

 unworthy of being kept distinct; and we should not have noticed 

 them, had they not found a place in such a work as De Candolle's 

 Prodromus. 

 Description. The sloe, or blackthorn, is much more frequently seen as a 

 large spiny shrub, than as a tree ; but, when the suckers are removed from it, 

 and all the strength of the plant is allowed to go into one stem, it forms a 

 small scrubby tree of the most characteristic kind. The stems of the sloe 

 differ from those of the hawthorn, in growing to the height of 3 ft. or 4 ft. be- 

 fore they branch off. The bark is black, whence the name of black thorn ; and 

 the leaves are dark green. The roots are creeping, and, in every soil and situ- 

 ation, throw up numerous suckers; so much so, that a single plant, in a favour- 

 able soil, would cover an acre of ground in a very few years. In hedges, in 

 Britain, it is seldom seen above 20 ft. in height ; but in woods and in parks, 

 as single trees, we have seen it above 30ft. high: for example, in Eastweil 

 Park, in Kent. The flowers are solitary, and contain from 20 to 30 fila- 

 ments, with orange-coloured anthers. The style is generally only one ; but 

 there are sometimes two. The drupe, which is black, exhibits a beautiful 

 blue exudation, or bloom, when ripe; which, as in case of all bloom, whether 

 on fruit or young shoots, is easily removed by handling. 



Geography, History, 8$c. The blackthorn is found, generally throughout 

 Europe, in hedges and copses, in fertile as well as in the most barren soils. It 

 is a native of the south of Russia, Caucasus, and the banks of the Wolga, 



