11 WVTHOKN 



( 'rata 



Tin' \pple Family 

 POMACE M 



The gen gus ia ■ very lai i upwai 



iibly more) of Bhruba and trees widely scattered over 

 the United S , and called by Buch common names as hawthorn, 



haw, thorns, th< rn-appl< wny thorn, white thorn, yellow 



haw. cock-spur thorn, etc. The group is a complex one, and very puz- 

 zling to the beginner because of the great variation of forms, the unc 

 taintv of the nomenclature, and the general unsatisfactory condition of 

 our knowledge of the group. The student who becomes particularly in- 

 tereated in sin ac to the more complete botanical 



manuals and other literature dealing with the group. 



The hawthorns are usually low, wide-spreading, bushy shrubs or 

 small, round-topped or bushy trees, seldom reaching a height exceed- 

 ing .".0-.*;.") feet, and a trunk diameter of 18 inches, usually much smaller 



than these dimensions would indicate. The branches strong, tough, 



often t >rtU0U8 and more or less zigzag and armed with stiff, sharp- 

 pointed thorns. The bark is usually more or less BCaly or shredded 

 and varies from dark red to brown and gray and is commonly shallowly 

 fissured. 



The winter-buds are small, glob >8e or nearly so, and covered by 

 numerous, over-lapping scales which are commonly bright chestnut- 

 brown in color and shining:. 



The leaves are alternate, simple, generally serrate, often lobed, 

 sometimes deeply lobed, with short or long petioles, and with many 

 variations in shape, smooth and Bhining or more or less dull and hairy, 

 more or less leathery and tough or thin and membranous, deciduous. 



The flowers are white and they appear in May or June, with or 

 after the leaves and are often produced in great profusion, in simple 

 or compound, few- to many-flowered clusters on short lateral , leafy 

 twig:.-: calyx tubular or bell-shaped, 5-lobed, the lobes acute or acumi- 

 nate, green or reddish; petals 5, white or faintly pink; stamens many, 

 on the edge of the calyx cup, with a rather definite arrangement and 

 color for the different species, varying; in color from pole yellow 

 nearly white, pink, light or dark rose-color or purple. 



The fruit is globular, ovate, short-oblong or pear-shaped, scarlet, 

 rige-color, red, yellow, blue, or black, resembling in all coses small 

 tiny apples, flesh usually dry and mealy, frequently sweet and edible. 



The wood of the larger haws is heavy, hard, tough, ciose-grained, 

 reddish-brown, with thick, usually pole Bap wood; used for tool hand; 

 mallets, walking sticks, other small articles and fuel. 



Several of the species arc valuable for hedges and other ornamental 

 purposes. The beautiful and abundant flowers and brilliantly cole 

 fruits make certain - [uite desirable for planting in lawns and 



parks and several BUCh forms arc used in those pla« • 



The hawthorns that have 1 een reported for Nebraska are as fol- 

 low >80 I... C. mollis ( T. A I heele, ('. Colorado 



Britton and ('. chi pa A -he. found in vario 



portions of the tally along the Missouri river and the low 



cou • tributaries. We ought to have many specimens of our 



-ka haw- ible us to determine exactly the status of the • 



in thi Map 87. 



—125— 



