440 
BECIDrOUS TREES. 
Fig. 146. 
thorn, C. c. prunifolia^ for short broad leaves, 
fastigiate habit and showy red autumn foliage ; 
the C. c. py^-acanthafolia and the C. c. salicifloia., 
or willow-leaved, are curiously low and broad 
little trees; and the C. c. nana is the smallest 
dwarf of all. Fig. 146 shows the form of the 
willow-leaved variety; which is one of the 
prettiest of all the thorn trees, and is espe- 
cially noted for the level spread of its top. 
'47 
THE TVV1> H ASV'iHOK-NS. 
The Hawthorns. Crafcegus oxycantha. — We quote the fol- 
lowing from Loudon’s Arbo 7 'etum Britannicum : “ The common 
hawthorn, in its wild state, is a shrub or small tree with a smooth 
bark, and very hard wood. The rate of growth when the plant is 
young, and in a good soil and climate, is from one foot to two 
or three feet a year for the first three or four years ; afterwards 
its growth is slower, till it has attained the height of twelve or 
fifteen feet, when its shoots are produced chiefly in a lateral 
direction, tending to increase the width of the head of the tree, 
rather than its height. In a wild state it is commonly found as 
