Crataegus berberifolia |
Crataegus brachyacantha |
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barberry hawthorn, barberry-leaf hawthorn |
blueberry haw, blueberry hawthorn, hoghaw, pomette bleue |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, 60 dm. | Shrubs or trees, 60–100(–150) dm. | ||||
Stems | twigs: new growth orange-brown or green tinged with red, ± pubescent, 1-year old brown, older gray; thorns on twigs ± straight or recurved, 2-years old shiny black to chestnut brown, fine or stouter, (2–)3–4(–6.5) cm. |
trunk bark dark gray-brown, plated; thorns on twigs absent or present, recurved, short, to 1.5 cm. |
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Leaves | petiole 4–6 mm, length 13–18% blade, glabrescent, eglandular; blade narrowly obovate to oblanceolate, (2.5–)3(–4) cm, coriaceous, base narrowly cuneate, lobes 0, margins finely crenate or serrate except at base, or only beyond widest part, venation craspedodromous, veins 4–6 per side, apex subacute to obtuse, lustrous, abaxial surface ± densely pilose on veins, sometimes pubescent on surface, adaxial hairy young, glabrescent or becoming scabrous. |
petiole length 15–30% blade; blade elliptic, 2–3 cm, coriaceous, shiny, lobes 0, margins crenate, venation camptodromous, veins 5 or 6(–8) per side, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial sparingly appressed-hairy, hairy on midvein, sometimes to sinuses. |
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Inflorescences | 8–12-flowered; branches densely pubescent; bracteoles linear, margins glandular. |
15–25-flowered; branches glabrous; bracteoles caducous, narrow, small, membranous, margins eglandular, nearly glabrous. |
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Flowers | 10–20 mm diam.; hypanthium villous or glabrous; sepals 3–5 mm, margins entire, abaxially glabrous; stamens 10 or 20, anthers cream or pink; styles 2 or 3. |
12 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous; sepals triangular, 1.5 mm; stamens 20, anthers cream to orange, 0.5 mm; styles 4 or 5. |
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Pomes | reddish to yellow, suborbicular, 8–10 mm diam., glabrous; sepals erose or patent; pyrenes 2 or 3. |
black to bluish black, pruinose, oblate-orbiculate, 8–14 mm diam.; flesh mealy; fruiting calyx suberect, on small collar, sepal tips often reflexed; pyrenes 4 or 5, dorsally slightly grooved, sides plane. |
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2n | = 34, 51. |
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Crataegus berberifolia |
Crataegus brachyacantha |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr; fruiting Sep–Nov. | |||||
Habitat | Wet prairies, alluvial flats, well-drained mesic sites, woodland margins | |||||
Elevation | 10–200 m (0–700 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; KS; LA; MO; MS; NC; SC; TN
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AR; GA; LA; MS; OK; TX
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Crataegus berberifolia is widespread from Texas to Missouri, Florida, and Virginia; it is particularly abundant in Louisiana. Crataegus berberifolia is little differentiated from some forms of C. crus-galli, except in indumentum; it has relatively small and less variably shaped leaves. Its distribution is quite different. Intermediates with hairy leaves and glabrous inflorescences or nearly glabrous leaves and hairy inflorescences may represent hybrids with C. crus-galli (where they might be reached in the key). Such a situation is found in C. araioclada. Abrasion of the adaxial leaf pubescence may occur, rendering identification more difficult with fruiting material. Crataegus berberifolia has a plethora of yellow and orange-fruited forms, particularly from southern Louisiana. Crataegus fera and C. tersa are red-fruited, C. crocina yellow. The fruit color in the type is unknown; E. J. Palmer (in specimen annotation) called it yellow-orange. A form with exceptionally white-tomentose leaves near Copenhagen, Louisiana, is probably this species. Crataegus regalis var. paradoxa (Sargent) E. J. Palmer, from Missouri and adjacent Kansas and Arkansas, is probably a hybrid between the deeply serrated 'regalis' leaf form of C. crus-galli and a form of C. berberifolia. Two common forms of C. berberifolia occur, treated here as varieties: var. engelmannii with ten pink anthers and var. berberifolia with 20 cream anthers. Forms with 20 pink or ten cream anthers also occur sporadically. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Crataegus brachyacantha occurs throughout Louisiana, where it is locally common, and in the adjacent parts of all surrounding states. A disjunct population was known in Georgia but it cannot be found there now. The species is seemingly more shade tolerant than many other hawthorns. Crataegus brachyacantha is among the taller hawthorns in North America; its petals turn orange with age or on drying. The short, recurved thorns and bitter, oblate-orbiculate, black fruit also are distinctive and help to distinguish C. brachyacantha from C. saligna of Colorado and Utah (ser. Cerrones), which is similar in foliage and flower. The names blueberry haw and pomette bleue may have a special appropriateness about late August when the waxy covering of the fruit is still thick and the underlying color is a dark purple. At maturity, the flesh is thin and bitter and the skin usually black. The fall foliage, brilliant lustrous orange, bronze, and red, suggests potential ornamental use. Forma leucocarpa Sargent is a white-fruited form, which was collected by E. J. Palmer at Natchitoches, Louisiana, September 1915; it is the only recorded white-fruited hawthorn. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 540. | FNA vol. 9, p. 501. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Crus-galli | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Brevispinae > ser. Brevispinae | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 469. (1840) | Sargent & Engelmann: Bot. Gaz. 7: 128. (1882) | ||||
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