Hawthorn

The hawthorn tree was tall.

The hawthorn bush was growing rapidly.

Proust, an author to whom Humboldt had introduced me and in whose work he gave me heavy instruction, said he was often attracted to people whose faces had something in them of a hawthorn hedge in bloom.

In fact, a railway lined with hedgerows and shrubs would be perfect for reliability and biodiversity. Hawthorn, for example, can take a good cut and grow back strongly, while still providing shelter for creatures and acting as a natural fence line. Even palisade fencing can be climbed by a determined trespasser, but a good-size hawthorn hedge, lined with thorns and the inevitable brambles, is a serious obstacle.