The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

blueberry haw, blueberry hawthorn, hoghaw, pomette bleue

hoary hawthorn

Habit Shrubs or trees, 60–100(–150) dm. Shrubs, widely spreading mature, 40–60 dm, branches ± weeping.
Stems

trunk bark dark gray-brown, plated;

thorns on twigs absent or present, recurved, short, to 1.5 cm.

twigs: new growth densely appressed-white-pubescent, 1-year old brown to purple-brown, glabrous;

thorns on twigs absent or numerous, straight, 1-year old purple-brown, slender, 1–4 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 length 20–25% blade, pubescent young, densely glandular;

blade usually narrowly to broadly obtrullate, sometimes ± obovate, 3–5 cm, thick, floppy, base usually gradually tapered, lobes 1 or 2(or 3) per side, subterminal, short, well defined, margins subentire or obscurely glandular crenate-serrate, veins 2 or 3 per side (exiting beyond widest part of leaf), apex acute to subacute, surfaces pubescent.

Inflorescences

15–25-flowered;

branches glabrous;

bracteoles caducous, narrow, small, membranous, margins eglandular, nearly glabrous.

1–4-flowered;

branches densely white-canescent;

bracteoles deciduous, linear, margins sessile-glandular, adaxially short-pubescent.

Flowers

12 mm diam.;

hypanthium glabrous;

sepals triangular, 1.5 mm;

stamens 20, anthers cream to orange, 0.5 mm;

styles 4 or 5.

17–20 mm diam.;

hypanthium densely canescent;

sepals narrowly triangular, 5 mm, margins glandular-serrate, abaxially pubescent;

anthers ivory;

styles 4 or 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.

usually orange or ruddy to crimson, suborbicular to ± pyriform, 9 mm diam., pubescent;

sepals reflexed;

pyrenes 4 or 5.

2n

= 34, 51.

Crataegus brachyacantha

Crataegus lanata

Phenology Flowering Apr; fruiting Sep–Nov. Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Jul–Aug.
Habitat Wet prairies, alluvial flats, well-drained mesic sites, woodland margins Pine barrens, open scrub, on sand
Elevation 10–200 m (0–700 ft) 0–200 m (0–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; GA; LA; MS; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; NC; SC; VA
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.)

Crataegus lanata occurs from Alabama and northern Florida to the Carolinas; there is one record from Chesterfield County, Virginia.

Crataegus lanata is one of the most abundant species in ser. Lacrimatae; it is most like C. lassa and is noted for its very large (for ser. Lacrimatae), usually floppy, distinctly but shallowly incised, kite-shaped leaves, persistently somewhat white-hairy. The fruit of C. lanata ripens copper to red.

Variants of Crataegus lanata include some intermediates with the typical form of C. lassa and forms with wider, more obovate leaves, some of which may be the same as C. amica Beadle. Crataegus pulla Beadle, described from sandy flats along the Tombigbee River, Mississippi, is a form little-known apart from its type and protologue. Crataegus pulla has similarities to C. lanata, but differs by its more or less coarsely and rather irregularly toothed, obovate leaves often with a single, relatively small, somewhat obscure lobe on each side; the leaves are at first more or less tomentose and then variably somewhat glabrescent; flowers are smaller (14–17 mm wide); and fruits are larger (9–12 mm wide).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 501. FNA vol. 9, p. 630.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Brevispinae > ser. Brevispinae Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Lacrimatae
Sibling taxa
C. aemula, C. aestivalis, C. alabamensis, C. alleghaniensis, C. annosa, C. aprica, C. aquacervensis, C. ashei, C. atrovirens, C. attrita, C. austromontana, C. beata, C. berberifolia, C. biltmoreana, C. brainerdii, C. brazoria, C. brittonii, C. buckleyi, C. calpodendron, C. castlegarensis, C. chrysocarpa, C. coccinea, C. coccinioides, C. cognata, C. collina, C. colonica, C. communis, C. compacta, C. condigna, C. craytonii, C. crocea, C. crus-galli, C. cupressocollina, C. delawarensis, C. dispar, C. dodgei, C. douglasii, C. egens, C. egregia, C. enderbyensis, C. erythropoda, C. exilis, C. eximia, C. extraria, C. fecunda, C. flabellata, C. flava, C. florens, C. floridana, C. florifera, C. fluviatilis, C. formosa, C. frugiferens, C. furtiva, C. gattingeri, C. gaylussacia, C. gilva, C. greggiana, C. harbisonii, C. holmesiana, C. ignava, C. incilis, C. integra, C. intricata, C. invicta, C. iracunda, C. irrasa, C. jesupii, C. jonesiae, C. lacrimata, C. laevigata, C. lanata, C. lancei, C. lanuginosa, C. lassa, C. laurentiana, C. leonensis, C. lepida, C. levis, C. lumaria, C. macracantha, C. macrosperma, C. magniflora, C. margarettae, C. marshallii, C. mendosa, C. meridiana, C. mira, C. mollis, C. monogyna, C. munda, C. nananixonii, C. neobushii, C. nitida, C. oakesiana, C. okanaganensis, C. okennonii, C. opaca, C. opima, C. orbicularis, C. ouachitensis, C. padifolia, C. pennsylvanica, C. persimilis, C. pexa, C. phaenopyrum, C. phippsii, C. pinetorum, C. populnea, C. prona, C. pruinosa, C. pulcherrima, C. punctata, C. purpurella, C. quaesita, C. reverchonii, C. rivularis, C. rivuloadamensis, C. rivulopugnensis, C. roribacca, C. rubella, C. rubribracteolata, C. saligna, C. sargentii, C. scabrida, C. schizophylla, C. schuettei, C. segnis, C. senta, C. sheila-phippsiae, C. sheridana, C. shuswapensis, C. sororia, C. spathulata, C. spes-aestatum, C. stolonifera, C. stonei, C. submollis, C. suborbiculata, C. succulenta, C. tecta, C. teres, C. texana, C. tracyi, C. triflora, C. turnerorum, C. uniflora, C. ursopedensis, C. venusta, C. viridis, C. visenda, C. wattiana, C. williamsii, C. wootoniana, C. ×atrorubens, C. ×bicknellii, C. ×coleae, C. ×collicola, C. ×disperma, C. ×dispessa, C. ×fretalis, C. ×incaedua, C. ×kelloggii, C. ×latebrosa, C. ×lucorum, C. ×rufula, C. ×sicca, C. ×vailiae
C. aemula, C. aestivalis, C. alabamensis, C. alleghaniensis, C. annosa, C. aprica, C. aquacervensis, C. ashei, C. atrovirens, C. attrita, C. austromontana, C. beata, C. berberifolia, C. biltmoreana, C. brachyacantha, C. brainerdii, C. brazoria, C. brittonii, C. buckleyi, C. calpodendron, C. castlegarensis, C. chrysocarpa, C. coccinea, C. coccinioides, C. cognata, C. collina, C. colonica, C. communis, C. compacta, C. condigna, C. craytonii, C. crocea, C. crus-galli, C. cupressocollina, C. delawarensis, C. dispar, C. dodgei, C. douglasii, C. egens, C. egregia, C. enderbyensis, C. erythropoda, C. exilis, C. eximia, C. extraria, C. fecunda, C. flabellata, C. flava, C. florens, C. floridana, C. florifera, C. fluviatilis, C. formosa, C. frugiferens, C. furtiva, C. gattingeri, C. gaylussacia, C. gilva, C. greggiana, C. harbisonii, C. holmesiana, C. ignava, C. incilis, C. integra, C. intricata, C. invicta, C. iracunda, C. irrasa, C. jesupii, C. jonesiae, C. lacrimata, C. laevigata, C. lancei, C. lanuginosa, C. lassa, C. laurentiana, C. leonensis, C. lepida, C. levis, C. lumaria, C. macracantha, C. macrosperma, C. magniflora, C. margarettae, C. marshallii, C. mendosa, C. meridiana, C. mira, C. mollis, C. monogyna, C. munda, C. nananixonii, C. neobushii, C. nitida, C. oakesiana, C. okanaganensis, C. okennonii, C. opaca, C. opima, C. orbicularis, C. ouachitensis, C. padifolia, C. pennsylvanica, C. persimilis, C. pexa, C. phaenopyrum, C. phippsii, C. pinetorum, C. populnea, C. prona, C. pruinosa, C. pulcherrima, C. punctata, C. purpurella, C. quaesita, C. reverchonii, C. rivularis, C. rivuloadamensis, C. rivulopugnensis, C. roribacca, C. rubella, C. rubribracteolata, C. saligna, C. sargentii, C. scabrida, C. schizophylla, C. schuettei, C. segnis, C. senta, C. sheila-phippsiae, C. sheridana, C. shuswapensis, C. sororia, C. spathulata, C. spes-aestatum, C. stolonifera, C. stonei, C. submollis, C. suborbiculata, C. succulenta, C. tecta, C. teres, C. texana, C. tracyi, C. triflora, C. turnerorum, C. uniflora, C. ursopedensis, C. venusta, C. viridis, C. visenda, C. wattiana, C. williamsii, C. wootoniana, C. ×atrorubens, C. ×bicknellii, C. ×coleae, C. ×collicola, C. ×disperma, C. ×dispessa, C. ×fretalis, C. ×incaedua, C. ×kelloggii, C. ×latebrosa, C. ×lucorum, C. ×rufula, C. ×sicca, C. ×vailiae
Synonyms C. inops, C. lassa var. lanata
Name authority Sargent & Engelmann: Bot. Gaz. 7: 128. (1882) Beadle: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 86. (1902)
Web links