THE BLACKTHORN. 



Prunus spinosa. 



Natural Order — Rosace^e. 

 Class-— Icq s and ria . Orcle r — M o xo gyni a . 



The subject of the last chapter has high claims 

 to be ranked among the most interesting of Bri- 

 tish trees^, being not only a beautiful ornament to 

 the landscape at all seasons^ but possessing a le- 

 gendary character which secures for it more than 

 the passing attention even of the antiquary. The 

 subject of the present memoir, however, though 

 its name might lead us to hope that it had more 

 points of resemblance to the Hawthorn, possesses 

 but little interest for botanist, forester, painter, 

 or antiquary. In its natural state it is a rigid, 

 v/iry bush, remarkable for no beauty of flower or 

 foliage, and not making up for its outward defi- 

 ciencies by any inherent virtues residing in fruit, 

 stem, or root. 



Its very flowers, which are numerous and ap- 

 pear early in Spring, can barely be called orna- 

 mental. Expanding, as they do, before any other 

 tree has ventured to show signs of returning life, 

 we are inclined to look on them in the light of 

 daring adventurers, rather than harbingers of the 

 1 time which purples all the ground with vernai 

 i flowers." Their white ragged petals contrast 

 strangely with the sombre hues of the bare 

 boughs around them — they look cold and cheer- 

 less, and carry the mind back to the frosts and 



