BULLETIN NO. 51. 
Three species, at least, of Hawthorns show their greatest beauty in 
early November. These species are Crataegus cor data, C. nitida and 
C. persistens. The first of these plants, the so-called Washington 
Thorn, is a narrow, rather slender tree which in favorable situations 
grows to the height of twenty or thirty feet. The leaves are nearly 
triangular in outline, of medium size and very lustrous. The flowers, 
which open about the middle of June, are small, creamy white, and 
are produced in small, compact but very numerous clusters; these are 
followed by small, scarlet, shining fruits which ripen late in October 
and remain on the trees without change of color until the spring. As 
the fruit assumes its bright color the leaves turn gradually to brilliant 
shades of orange and scarlet. This tree, therefore, which is much less 
beautiful when it is in flower than many other Hawthorns, is surpassed 
in the late autumn by few members of the genus. Crataegus cordata 
is a native of the southern Appalachian region from Virginia to Ala- 
bama, and is also abundant in southern Missouri. Formerly much 
cultivated as a hedge plant in the middle states, it is now sparingly 
naturalized in eastern Pennsylvania and in Delaware. The largest 
plants of this Hawthorn in the Arboretum are on the side' of the Bussey 
Hill Overlook, and there is a good plant on Hickory Path near Centre 
Street. Crataegus nitida is a native of the bottom-lands of the Miss- 
issippi River in Illinois opposite the city of St. Louis, and is a larger 
tree of entirely different habit. The branches are wide-spreading and 
slightly pendulous, and form a large, rather open, round-topped head. 
The leaves are narrow, long-pointed and very lustrous, and, as is often 
the case with American Hawthorns, those at the ends of the branches 
are usually two or three times larger than the leaves on fertile branch- 
lets. The flowers are pure white, of medium size, and produced in 
very numerous clusters which cover the upper side of the branches. 
The scarlet drooping fruit, which is also of medium size, ripens late 
just as the leaves turn orange and scarlet. In habit, in brilliancy of 
foliage, in its autumn colors, and in its abundant flowers and showy 
fruit Crataegus nitida is one of the handsomest of the American Haw- 
thorns which has grown to a large size in the Arboretum. There are 
several good specimens of this tree on the bank on the east side of 
the Shrub Collection. Crataegus persistens retains its leaves which 
are now as green as they were at midsummer, after those of all the 
other Hawthorns have fallen, and the crimson fruit remains without 
change of color on the branches until late in the winter, making this 
tree the most conspicuous of all the winter-fruiting plants which have yet 
proved hardy in New England. This tree in habit and in the shape and 
general appearance of the leaves resembles some of the Cockspur 
Thorns of eastern North America. Raised at the Arboretum from 
seeds sent from the Paris Museum, its native country is still unknown. 
No plant at all like it has been found in the United States, although 
it is certainly a species of the New World. The fact that it retains 
its leaves so late in the autumn indicates a southern origin, and, if 
it is not a hybrid, it is possible that it may still be found in some of 
the elevated valleys of central Mexico. But whatever its origin, this 
is a tree of perfect hardiness and exceptional ornamental value. The 
