The _leaves_ are ovate or nearly orbicular, coarsely toothed nearly to
the base, usually 3 to 5 pairs of broad, shallow lobes. Both surfaces
are hairy.
The _flowers_ are often nearly an inch across, in compact clusters. They
have about 20 cream-colored, densely hairy stamens.
The _fruit_, or the haw, is large, nearly 3/4 inch across, bright
crimson or scarlet in color. The edible sweet flesh is firm but mellow,
surrounding 5 bony seeds. It is often used for making jelly.
The _wood_ is strong, tough, heavy and hard, and is used for mallets,
tool handles and such small articles.
The Washington thorn, _Crataegus phaenopyrum_ Med., is a smaller tree,
with bright red fruit, but its broad leaves are smooth and bright
green. The flowers are small, in very large clusters, followed by
small bright scarlet edible haws.
In the southern half of Illinois, growing on moist river bottoms, the
green haw, _Crataegus viridis_ L., becomes a tree 20 feet tall. The
broad leaves are dark green and quite smooth. The fruit is small but
produced in large clusters becoming bright red or orange-red as it
ripens.
+WILD PLUM+ _Prunus americana_ Marsh.
THE common wild plum, or yellow plum, is a small tree which at a height
usually of 3 to 6 feet divides into many spreading branches, often
drooping at the ends. Not uncommonly it grows in thickets where it
attains only large shrub size. The value of the tree lies in its fruit
from which jelly and preserves are made, and its handsome form, and
foliage, pure white fragrant flowers, and showy fruit which make it
desirable for ornamental planting.
[Illustration: WILD PLUM