Part 15

The tree grows rapidly, bears transplanting well and is often planted as a shade tree.

The European sycamore or London plane tree, Platanus acerifolia Willd., is less subject to disease than our native species and has been widely planted in this country for ornament and shade. The leaves are more deeply lobed than our sycamore and there are two or three fruit balls on each stem.

+WILD CRAB APPLE+ Malus ioensis Britton

THE wild crab apple, or prairie crab, is found throughout Illinois forming small trees 20 to 30 feet high with trunks from 6 to 12 inches in diameter. In the open it develops a broad open crown with rigid, contorted branches bearing many short, spur-like branchlets, some of which develop into sharp rigid thorns. Under less favorable conditions, these crab apples often form bushy shrubs.

Flower, fruit and leaves one-half natural size.]

The bark on the branches is smooth, thin and red-brown in color, while on the trunk the thicker bark often breaks into scales. The twigs are at first hoary-hairy, but soon become smooth and reddish.

The leaves are alternate, simple, 3 to 4 inches long and almost as broad. They are sometimes slightly lobed and sharply and deeply toothed. They are dark green and shiny above, but pale and hairy beneath, borne on stout, hairy petioles.

The flowers, which are from one to two inches broad, are borne in clusters of 3 to 8, on wooly pedicels about an inch long. The white or rosy petals form a cup which surrounds the numerous stamens and the five styles. The calyx is pubescent.

The fruit ripens in October, forming a globose, pale green, very fragrant apple with a waxy surface. It is about an inch in diameter, flattened at each end.

Like the other crabs, its handsome flowers have a delicious fragrance which makes the tree popular for planting for ornamental purposes. The fruit is sometimes gathered for jelly. The wood is heavy, close-grained and reddish-brown.

The wild sweet crab, Malus coronaria Mill., differs from the above in having more nearly smooth leaves and calyx. It is rarely found in Illinois but is common in Ohio. A cultivated variety, Malus ioensis plena Rheder, is sold under the name of Bechtel's crab, and has large, double, rosy-pink blossoms.

+SERVICE BERRY+ Amelanchier arborea (Michx. f.) Fern.

(Amelanchier canadensis Medic.)

THE downy service berry, or shadblow, as it is more commonly called in the East, has little economic importance except for its frequency throughout the State and the touch of beauty its flowers give to our forests early in the spring before the foliage has come out. It is a small tree 20 to 50 feet high and seldom over 8 inches in diameter, with a rather narrow, rounded top but is often little more than shrub. The name shadblow was given by the early settlers who noticed that it blossomed when the shad were running up the streams.

The bark is smooth and light gray, and shallowly fissured into scaly ridges. The winter buds are long and slender.

The leaves are alternate, slender-stalked, ovate, pointed, finely toothed, 2 to 4 inches long, densely white-hairy when young, then becoming a light green, and covered with scattered silky hairs.

The white flowers appear in erect or drooping clusters in early spring, before the leaves, making the tree quite conspicuous in the leafless or budding forest. The petals are slender and rather more than a half inch long.

The fruit is sweet, edible, rounded, reddish-purple when ripe, 1/3 to 1/2 an inch in diameter, ripening early in June. Birds and denizens of the forest are very fond of the berries.

The wood is heavy, exceedingly hard, strong, close-grained and dark brown. It is occasionally used for handles. This is a desirable ornamental tree and should be planted for this purpose and to encourage the birds.

The smooth service berry, Amelanchier leavis Wieg., differs from the above species in having smooth leaves, dark green and slightly glaucous when mature, and they are half grown at flowering time. The fruit is sweet, purple or nearly black, glaucous and edible.

+COCK-SPUR THORN+ Crataegus crus-galli L.

THE hawthorns, or thorn-apples, are small trees or shrubs of the apple family which are widely distributed throughout the northeastern United States, with fewer species in the South and West. In North America, no less than 150 species have been distinguished, but their proper identification is a task for the expert. There are about a dozen haws that reach tree size in Illinois, attaining a height of 20 to 30 feet and a stem diameter of 8 to 12 inches. Of these, perhaps the best known is the cock-spur thorn with its many strong straight spines and shining leaves. Its bark is pale gray and scaly. Its winter buds are small, globose and lustrous brown.

The leaves are conspicuous because of their dark green glossy surface. They are broadest toward the apex tapering to the short petiole. They vary in size in different localities, the smaller-leaved varieties seem to be more frequently met with in the southern part of the State than in the north. These leaves are alternate, wedge-shaped, notched on the edges, and from 2 to 3 inches long.

The flowers are rather small, arranged in flat-topped clusters, white in color, with about a dozen pink stamens.

The fruit is 1/3 inch thick, greenish-red; the flesh is hard and dry.

This haw is one of the best for planting for ornamental purposes; with its spreading branches, it forms a broad, rounded crown. It is hardy and succeeds in a great variety of soils.

The dotted hawthorn, Crataegus punctata Jacq., also has wedge-shaped leaves but they are leathery, dull gray-green in color with conspicuous veins. The tree reaches a height of 25 feet with distinctly horizontal branches forming a broad flat crown. It is often almost without thorns. The fruit is oblong, dull red with pale dots, becoming mellow.

The pear-thorn, Crataegus calpodendron Med., is a smaller tree, with broader leaves, very few thorns and pear-shaped fruit. The haw is scarlet or orange-red, the flesh is thin and sweet.