Crataegus berberifolia
Crataegus succulenta
barberry hawthorn, barberry-leaf hawthorn
aubépine succulente, fleshy hawthorn, succulent 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.
older trunks usually bearing compound thorns;
twigs: new growth reddish green, glabrous, 1-year old dark, shiny red-brown, 2–3-years old becoming dark gray, older ± paler gray;
thorns on twigs numerous, usually recurved, shiny, 1-year old dark blackish brown, stout, 3–6(–8) 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 cm, narrowly winged distally, glabrous, eglandular;
blade rhombic-elliptic to broadly rhombic-ovate or elliptic, 4–7 cm widest near middle, subcoriaceous mature (then often blue-green), base cuneate (constricted), lobes 3–5 per side, obscure to well-marked, sinuses shallow, lobe apex usually subacute to obtuse, margins serrate except proximally, veins 6–8 per side, impressed, apex acute to subacute, rarely obtuse, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial scabrate-pubescent young.
8–12-flowered;
branches densely pubescent;
bracteoles linear, margins glandular.
15–30-flowered;
branches pubescent or glabrous;
bracteoles linear, 1.7 cm, margins glandular.
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.
12–17 mm diam.;
hypanthium glabrous or pubescent;
sepals narrowly triangular, 4–6 mm, margins glandular-serrate to glandular-laciniate, abaxially glabrous, adaxial pubescence not recorded;
stamens 20, anthers usually red or pink, rarely white, 0.5–0.7 mm;
styles 2 or 3.
reddish to yellow, suborbicular, 8–10 mm diam., glabrous;
sepals erose or patent;
pyrenes 2 or 3.
bright or deep red, lustrous, suborbicular, (4–)7–10(–14) mm diam., glabrous, rarely pubescent;
flesh mealy or succulent mature;
sepals spreading-reflexed;
pyrenes 2 or 3, sides pitted.
= 51.
Crataegus berberifolia
Crataegus succulenta
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.)
Varieties 5 (5 in the flora).
Crataegus succulenta ranges through the southern Great Lakes area to the middle St. Lawrence and southern New England, to Minnesota, to Iowa, Missouri (very rare), and Ohio, the Appalachians to North Carolina. An outlier has recently been recognized in Manitoba.
The dark twig colors of Crataegus succulenta are dramatic in winter and the coral red expanding bud scales are conspicuous in spring, more so than in most other species of hawthorn except C. macracantha. In summer, its commonly bluish green leaves, eglandular petioles, and impressed venation combine with thorn and twig characteristics to make this and C. macracantha usually instantly recognizable.
Crataegus succulenta often forms suckering thickets in the north.
(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 |
1. Leaf blades proportionately narrow (1.6–2:1), elliptic to rhombic-elliptic or narrowly ovate | var. neofluvialis |
1. Leaf blades proportionately wide (1.3–1.6:1), ovate to broadly rhombic-ovate or broadly elliptic | → 2 |
2. Pomes 4–6 mm diam. | var. pisifera |
2. Pomes 7–14 mm diam | → 3 |
3. Pomes 12–14 mm diam. | var. gemmosa |
3. Pomes 7–10 mm diam | → 4 |
4. Anthers red or pink. | var. succulenta |
4. Anthers white. | var. michiganensis |
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