208 



THE HAWTHORN. 



ginally consisted of a number of stems which have 

 grown together."^' The true explanation I believe 

 to be this. The Hawthorn, when cut dow^n close 

 to the ground, invariably sends up several strong 

 shoots from the buds nearest to the root, Vv'hich 

 from their having no room to expand, have a 

 natural tendency as they increase in size to grow 

 together* When once thus united, the lower 

 portion of the consolidated trunk w^ould pre- 

 sent the " seamed " appearance described by Mr, 

 Jesse, and as the tree grew old, the increased 

 weight of branches, foliage, and fruit would have 

 the effect of separating the whole into its con- 

 stituent parts, or, in fact, restoring it to its 

 former condition. This tendency of the Haw^- 

 thorn to form numerous separate stems is so 

 well known to hedgers, that it is usual to cut 

 down whole hedges of quickset, as soon as the 

 plants are well rooted, for the sake of forming a 

 thicker fence. 



Occasionally, but rarely, the Hawthorn asumes 

 a pendant or weeping " character. There is 

 a fine tree of this kind in the garden which be- 

 longed to the Regent Murray in Scotland, and 

 is said to be very beautiful. Like many other 

 trees, the Hawthorn is occasionally liable to an 

 unhealthy mode of growth, when tufts or clusters 

 of twigs are produced, resembling, if observed at 

 a little distance, a large bird's nest. Mr. Ander- 

 son, the late curator of the Chelsea Botanic Gar- 

 den, had the curiosity to graft young Thorns with 



* Grigor, in his Eastern Arboretum, describes a similar tree at 

 Earsham, Norfolk, " the trunk of which was a series of stems massed 

 and matted together, measuring, at five feet from the ground, nine 

 feet in circumference." 



