Crataegus berberifolia
Crataegus flabellata
barberry hawthorn, barberry-leaf hawthorn
aubépine flabelliforme, fan-leaf hawthorn
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.
twigs: new growth reddish at first, usually sparsely pubescent, 1-year old deep chestnut brown, older dull gray;
thorns on twigs 1-year old shiny, dark brown, stout to slender, 4–6 cm.
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 1–2 mm wide, length 40–50% blade, glandular;
blade glossy, dark green, broadly elliptic to ovate, 4–7 cm, base cuneate to slightly rounded, lobes 4 or 5 per side, sinuses deep, lobe apex acuminate, margins sharply serrate, teeth gland-tipped, veins 5 or 6 per side, apex acute, abaxial surface glabrous except along veins, adaxial densely appressed-scabrous young, glabrescent.
8–12-flowered;
branches densely pubescent;
bracteoles linear, margins glandular.
5–10-flowered;
branches villous;
bracteole frequency not recorded, linear.
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.
13–17 mm diam.;
hypanthium glabrous or villous at base;
sepals 4–5 mm, margins entire, glandular to glandular-serrate, rarely nearly eglandular, apex acute, abaxial pubescence not recorded;
stamens 5–10 or 20, anthers usually pink;
styles 3–5.
reddish to yellow, suborbicular, 8–10 mm diam., glabrous;
sepals erose or patent;
pyrenes 2 or 3.
crimson, ± ellipsoid, 8–10 mm diam., sometimes ± pruinose;
sepals spreading or usually erose, not or obscurely elevated;
pyrenes 3–5, dorsally deeply grooved.
= 51.
Crataegus berberifolia
Crataegus flabellata
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 flabellata occurs along the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario, on both sides of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and to Massachusetts. Reports for Newfoundland have not been substantiated.
Crataegus flabellata is distinctive with its leaf blades glossy dark green, ovate to broadly elliptic, cuneate at the base, and with deep acuminate lobes. Specimens with less glandularity or serration of the sepal margins may resemble C. fluviatilis. In spite of the obvious differences in morphology and range, C. flabellata and C. macrosperma often have been combined by floristicians. From C. chrysocarpa, C. flabellata is distinguished by its shinier, ellipsoid, glabrous fruit, by the usually deeper, acuminate lobes of its glossy, dark green leaves, and by longer, slightly more acute sepals. Typically, the inflorescences and hypanthia of eastern C. chrysocarpa are densely hairy, practically tomentose, unlike C. flabellata with its more sparsely hairy pedicels and glabrous distal hypanthia. It is conceivable that, due to morphological intermediacy and the sympatry of all three species within the range of C. flabellata, this species represents the result of ancient hybridization between C. chrysocarpa and C. macrosperma.
Crataegus flabellata is usually divided into two varieties: var. flabellata (10 stamens) and var. grayana (20 stamens), the latter being particularly common in southern Quebec. There appears to be little, if any, other constant differentiating feature. Crataegus crudelis, also from Quebec, is a form recognized by long thorns (to 10 cm).
The name Crataegus densiflora Sargent, which pertains to C. flabellata, is illegitimate.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Stamens 20, anthers usually cream; flowers 16–20 mm diam. | var. berberifolia |
1. Stamens 10, anthers usually pink; flowers 10–15 mm diam. | var. engelmannii |
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