a different typical flavour and pear-shaped (pyriform) appearance compared with continental forms. Robert Hogg commented that "the Damson seems to be a fruit peculiar to England. We do not meet with it abroad, nor is any mention of it made in any of the pomological works or nurseryman's catalogues on the Continent". As time progressed, a distinction developed between the varieties known as "damascenes" and the (usually smaller) types called "damsons", to the degree that by 1891 they were the subject of a lawsuit when a Nottinghamshire grocer complained about being supplied one when he had ordered the other. In addition to providing fruit, the damson makes a tough hedge or windbreak, and it became the favoured hedging tree in certain parts of the country such as Shropshire and Kent. Elsewhere damsons were used in orchards to protect less hardy trees, though orchards entirely composed of damson trees were a feature of some areas, notably the Lyth Valley of Westmorland and the Teme Valley in the Malverns, and indeed damsons were the only plum planted commercially north of Norfolk. There is a body of anecdotal evidence that damsons were used in the British dye and cloth manufacturing industries in the 18th and 19th centuries, with examples occurring in every major damson-growing area (Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Westmorland, Shropshire and Worcestershire). Stories that damsons were used to dye khaki army uniforms are particularly common. However, a 2005 report for conservancy body English Nature could find no documentary evidence within the dyeing industry that damsons were ever a source of dye, noting that use of natural dyes declined rapidly after the 1850s, and concluded that "there seems no evidence that damsons were used extensively or techniques [for using them] developed". The main recorded use of damsons in the industrial era was in commercial jam-making, and orchards were widespread until the Second World War, after which changing tastes, the effect of wartime sugar rationing, and the relatively high cost of British-grown fruit caused a steep decline. The damson was introduced into the American colonies by English settlers before the American Revolution. It was regarded as thriving better in the continental United States than other European plum varieties; many of the earliest references to European plums in American gardens concern the damson. A favourite of early colonists, the tree has escaped from gardens and can be found growing wild in states such as Idaho. Characteristics The