Crataegus brachyacantha |
Crataegus brittonii |
|
---|---|---|
blueberry haw, blueberry hawthorn, hoghaw, pomette bleue |
Britton hawthorn |
|
Habit | Shrubs or trees, 60–100(–150) dm. | Shrubs, slender, 30–40 dm. |
Stems | trunk bark dark gray-brown, plated; thorns on twigs absent or present, recurved, short, to 1.5 cm. |
twigs: new growth pubescent, 1-year old gray-brown, ± shiny, glabrous, older gray; thorns on twigs often numerous, ± straight to slightly recurved, 1-year old blackish, ± slender, 3–5 cm. |
Leaves | 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. |
petiole 3–6 mm, flared distally, pubescent, glandularity not recorded; blade elliptic-rhombic to broadly elliptic-rhombic, 2–3.5 cm (usually widest near middle), length/width = 1.3 or wider, base broadly cuneate, lobes 0, or 1(or 2) per side, margins crenate-serrate, teeth caducous, gland-tipped, venation ± craspedodromous, veins 3 or 4 per side, apex rounded to subacute, abaxial surface pale green, soft pubescent, indumentum variably persistent with age, adaxial dark green, appressed-pubescent. |
Inflorescences | 15–25-flowered; branches glabrous; bracteoles caducous, narrow, small, membranous, margins eglandular, nearly glabrous. |
2–6-flowered; branches densely pubescent; bracteoles type 2. |
Flowers | 12 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous; sepals triangular, 1.5 mm; stamens 20, anthers cream to orange, 0.5 mm; styles 4 or 5. |
14–18 mm diam.; hypanthium densely pubescent; sepals foliaceous, at least as long as petals, adaxially pubescent; anthers ivory; styles 3–5. |
Pomes | 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. |
red or ruddy, sometimes becoming dull brown, 14 mm, pubescent; sepals reflexed; pyrenes 3–5. |
2n | = 34, 51. |
|
Crataegus brachyacantha |
Crataegus brittonii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr; fruiting Sep–Nov. | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Sep–Nov. |
Habitat | Wet prairies, alluvial flats, well-drained mesic sites, woodland margins | Brush |
Elevation | 10–200 m (0–700 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; GA; LA; MS; OK; TX
|
AL; GA; NC; TN |
Discussion | 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.) |
Of conservation concern. Crataegus brittonii is a rare species with a scattered distribution. For a discussion of the possibly synonymous but untypified pink-anthered Crataegus rhodella Ashe and C. arenicola Ashe see J. B. Phipps and K. A. Dvorsky (2006). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 501. | FNA vol. 9, p. 606. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Brevispinae > ser. Brevispinae | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Parvifoliae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. uniflora var. brittonii | |
Name authority | Sargent & Engelmann: Bot. Gaz. 7: 128. (1882) | Eggleston: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 36: 640. (1909) |
Web links |