108 The Hawthorn. 



told that the Troglodytes, in the simplicity of their mind, tied 

 Hawthorn branches to the dead bodies of their parents and 

 friends ; and at the interment of the corpse they strewed its 

 branches upon the body, and afterwards covered it with stones 

 during the whole of the ceremony. They considered death as 

 the dawning of a life that should never cease. The boughs 

 were used in England as one of the principal decorations of the 

 May-pole. Shakspeare says : 



Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade 

 To shepherds looking on their silly sheep, 

 Than doth a rich embroidered canopy 

 To kings, that fear their subjects' treachery 1 

 O yes it doth, a thousand fold it tloth. 



It is in the class Icosandria, order Digynia. The generic 

 name is derived from a Greek word meaning strength, on ac- 

 count of the hardness of its wood. Its characters are : calyx 

 superior, five-cleft ; petals five ; berry inferior, two-seeded. The 

 well known Crataegus Oxycantha — Hawthorn, is naturalized 

 in the United States. It is an ornamental as well as useful tree, 

 deciduous in its habit ; the leaves are obtuse, subtrifid, serrated, 

 and quite smooth ; the flower-stalk and calyx very nearly smooth ; 

 the leaves of the latter lance-shaped and sharp. The flowers ap- 

 pear in May and June, they are generally white, with now and 

 then a rose tinge ; these, in the autumn, are succeeded by the 

 berries, which are of a beautiful scarlet, growing in clusters, and 

 could ill be dispensed with, as. beautiful as well as rich and 

 lively ornaments to our pleasure grounds and forests when there 

 are but few of the gems of Flora to adorn the landscape. This 

 kind of fruit is called haws, which gives name to the thorn. 



The Crataegus Crus Galli — Common Thorn Bush, is a 

 thorny branching shrub, with tough leaves, which are smooth, 

 irregularly cut on the margins, and somewhat ovate ; the thorns 

 are as long and as strong as large needles ; the flowers are of a 

 dead white, and grow generally in flat terminal clusters ; like 

 the other, it flowers in May and June. 



Crataegus Coccinea — Red Thorn, has not so many spines ; 

 the flowers are similar to the other, but succeeded by large, red, 

 and not unpleasantly tasted fruit. 



They belong to the natural order Rosacea?, and are included 

 in the 3ub-order, Pom®, or Apple-like tribe ; the whole order is 



