Field and Woodland Plants

by William S. Furneaux

Among the earliest flowers of Spring are the white blossoms of the Sloe or Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), which appear in March and April, some time before the leaves. The shrub grows from four to eight feet high, has a blackish bark, and numerous branches, the smallest of which terminate in hard, rigid thorns. The leaves are ovate, finely-toothed, smooth, stalked, with small, free stipules. The flowers are small, shortly-stalked, with a free, deciduous calyx of five lobes; five spreading petals; from fifteen to twenty stamens; and an ovary which ripens to an almost black, juicy, acrid drupe, about half an inch in diameter, containing a hard stone, and covered with a bluish bloom. This shrub is very common in thickets and hedgerows.

The Bullace (Prunus insititia), sometimes regarded as a variety of P. spinosa, is a very similar bush, growing in similar situations, and flowering at the same time; but its bark is brown, and the branches less spiny. Its leaves, also, are downy beneath; and the flowers, which appear at the same time as the leaves, are in pairs, on downy stalks. The fruit is about double the size of that of the last species, either dark or yellow in colour, less acrid, and drooping.

The above two species are the origins of the damsons and plums of our fruit gardens.

The May or Hawthorn (Cratægus Oxyacantha) is so well known that there would be no necessity to describe it, were it not for the fact that, being so familiar, its distinguishing characters are liable to be overlooked. It is a much-branched shrub, with many of the branches modified into protective spines. The leaves are simple, smooth, deeply-lobed and obtuse, have deciduous stipules, and appear before the flowers. The flowers are generally white, sweetly-scented, and arranged in corymbs. There are five sepals and five petals, and the numerous stamens have pink anthers producing brown pollen. The carpels, one to three in number, are enclosed in the calyx-tube; and the fruit is a bright red pome with a bony core.

The Wild Pear (Pyrus communis) is occasionally met with in woods and hedgerows, where its white flowers may be seen in April or May. The leaves of this tree are simple, elliptical, and serrate; and the smaller branches often terminate in a spine. The flowers are about an inch in diameter, and arranged in corymbs. They have distinct styles—a feature which serves to distinguish the blossom from that of the Wild Apple; and the fruit, which tapers towards the base, is a five-chambered, woody pome, with a horny core. Two varieties of this species occur, one with the base of the fruit conical, and the other with the base rounded.

The Crab Apple (P. Malus) is very similar in general appearance, but has no spines; and the flowers, which are in sessile umbels, are white, with delicate shades of pink. The styles, also, are united below; and the fruit is globular, yellow or reddish, concave at the insertion of the stalk, very acid, and five-chambered. This tree is common in hedgerows as well as in woods, and flowers during May or early June.

The Crab Apple.

In the woods and hedges of South England we commonly meet with the Service Tree (P. torminalis)—a small tree with downy twigs, and smooth leaves with from six to ten triangular, serrate lobes. Its flowers are small, white, and arranged in compound cymes. They bloom in April and May; and in the autumn their place is occupied by small, green fruits, spotted with brown, with a two-chambered, brittle core.

The White Beam (P. aria) is a small tree, commonly found on the outskirts of woods on chalky or limestone soils, which might be confused with the last species. It has large, irregularly-lobed leaves, white and downy beneath, with serrate edges. The general form of the leaf is egg-shaped, while that of the Service Tree is cordate. The corymbs of white flowers bloom in April; and the fruit, though much like that of P. torminalis, is spotted with red. There are no less than four varieties of this tree, distinguished mainly by the forms of the leaves, the serration of their edges, and the number of lateral veins.