127 
CRATiEGO-MESPILUS (Bastard Medlar). 
A CURIOUS group of shrubs, raised as a cross 
between the Medlar and the Hawthorn, by 
Messrs. Simon-Louis of Metz, and what is 
known as a graft-hybrid. An old Medlar 
grafted upon Hawthorn, had been neglected 
until strong Thorn-suckers pushed from near 
the base, with the result that the sap became 
modifiedinsome 
way leading to 
the formation of 
buds of this 
strangely mixed 
character. Ta- 
ken off and graf- 
ted, these shoots 
retained their 
character, and 
are now in com- 
merce under the 
name Cratago- 
mespilus or Bas- 
tard Medlar. 
The two best 
kinds are Dar- 
dari, a vigorous 
shrub with the 
look of a Medlar 
and pretty white 
flowers, which 
are smaller than 
in the parent and 
gathered into 
heads of 6 to 12 
together. The 
fruits are like 
a Medlar but 
much smaller 
and flattened, 
and the leaves 
are unlobed and 
either smooth or 
minutely toothed at the edges. The second 
kind, Asnieresi, takes us a stage nearer the 
Thorn. It is a spiny shrub with rough dark 
stems and down-covered young shoots, while 
the leaves are also downy, and lobed more or 
less like those of a Cratcegus. The flowers are 
greenish-white changing to pale rose, a little 
larger than in the Hawthorn, and gathered 
into dense heads upon stems clothed with white 
hairs. The fruits are like a Haw in shape and 
size, but brown, and covered with down. 
Long before this, however, there was a hy- 
brid form known in England, which, though 
not much planted of late years, is not uncom- 
mon in the neighbourhood of London and even 
in the London parks. This is Mespi/i/s Smithii 
or M. graudijiora^ a medium-sized tree with a 
Smith s Medlar {Mespthis grandijiora). 
rounded spreading head, hardy, and not with- 
out beauty, though, like many hybrids, not, 
perhaps, quite so beautiful as either of its 
parents. The lower branches droop gracefully, 
making an effective lawn-tree when thickly 
studded with its large white flowers over an 
inch across. They usually open during May, 
but come even in April when the season is 
early, either singly or in clusters of threes (in 
