Crataegus brachyacantha |
Crataegus crus-galli |
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blueberry haw, blueberry hawthorn, hoghaw, pomette bleue |
aubépine ergot-de-coq, bush hawthorn, cockspur hawthorn |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, 60–100(–150) dm. | Shrubs or trees, 50–100 dm, often with tabulate branching. | ||||
Stems | trunk bark dark gray-brown, plated; thorns on twigs absent or present, recurved, short, to 1.5 cm. |
twigs: new growth glabrous, 1-year old pale brown, older gray; thorns on twigs often ± recurved, 2-years old dark gray to blackish, ± stout, 3–6 cm. |
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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 obsolescent or 5 mm, length 0–7% blade, glabrous, eglandular; blade usually deep green, very shiny adaxially, broadly spatulate to narrowly oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 2–7 cm, coriaceous, base tapered, lobes 0, margins serrulate to finely crenate, teeth 1 mm, venation semicamptodromous, veins 4–7 per side, apex acute to obtuse, adaxial surface glabrous, sometimes sparsely hairy young, glabrescent. |
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Inflorescences | 15–25-flowered; branches glabrous; bracteoles caducous, narrow, small, membranous, margins eglandular, nearly glabrous. |
8–20-flowered; branches usually glabrous; bracteoles linear, small, margins sessile-glandular. |
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Flowers | 12 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous; sepals triangular, 1.5 mm; stamens 20, anthers cream to orange, 0.5 mm; styles 4 or 5. |
12–17 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous; sepals 5–6 mm, margins ± entire, adaxially glabrous; stamens 10 or 20, anthers ivory to pink to red; styles 1 or 2(or 3). |
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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. |
usually ruddy to crimson, sometimes bright yellow, ± oblong to suborbicular, 8–15 mm diam., often pruinose, glabrous; sepals patent-reflexed; pyrenes 1 or 2(or 3). |
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2n | = 34, 51. |
= 34, 51, 68. |
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Crataegus brachyacantha |
Crataegus crus-galli |
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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 |
AR; GA; LA; MS; OK; TX
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AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; ON; QC [Introduced in Europe]
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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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Crataegus crus-galli is one of the more abundant North American hawthorns and has been reported as naturalized in Holland and other parts of Europe. It may occur in more or less pure stands sometimes many hectares in size. This species is variable, a situation attested to by its synonymy, most of which belongs to var. crus-galli. Some forms are locally distinct and may represent apomictic clones. In this treatment, only one variety other than var. crus-galli is recognized, this on the basis of leaf shape. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 501. | FNA vol. 9, p. 538. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Brevispinae > ser. Brevispinae | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Crus-galli | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Sargent & Engelmann: Bot. Gaz. 7: 128. (1882) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 476. (1753) | ||||
Web links |