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THE EVERGREEN THORN. 
MESPILUS PYllACANTHA. 
“ Phillyria, here, and pyracantha spread 
Their verdant foliage, and berries red 
In glowing clusters.” 
This well-known shrub is a native of the south of Eu¬ 
rope : it also grows plentifully on Mount Caucasus, in 
the Chersonesus, and in China. It was introduced here 
early in the seventeenth century, but has never yet got 
beyond the pale of the garden or shrubbery, not¬ 
withstanding Evelyn’s hint that it might be cultivated, 
with little trouble, for fences and other common pur¬ 
poses. “ The pyracantha, paliurus, and like preciouser 
sorts of thorns and robust evergreens, adorned with cara- 
lin berries,” says he, “ might easily be propagated by 
seeds, layers, or cuttings, into plenty sufficient to store 
even these vulgar uses, were men industrious; and then 
how beautiful and sweet our fields would be ! For there 
are none of the spinous shrubs more hardy, none that 
make a more glorious show, none fitter for our defence.” 
But, surely, it would be a sight scarcely less strange than 
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