Flora of North America species comparison

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Crataegus brachyacantha

Crataegus viridis

blueberry haw, blueberry hawthorn, hoghaw, pomette bleue

green hawthorn
Habit Shrubs or trees, 60–100(–150) dm. Shrubs or trees, 80–150 dm.
Stems

trunk bark dark gray-brown, plated;

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

mature trunk bark checked dark gray or black, rough or whitish to light gray, thin-exfoliating;

twigs: new growth often reddish, glabrous, 1-year old gray to red-brown, older gray, smooth;

thorns on twigs few to abundant, 2-years old blackish, 3–4 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 0.7–2.5 cm, length 33–40% blade, adaxially glabrous or pubescent, eglandular;

blade narrowly elliptic to suborbiculate, narrowly rhombic to oblong and ovate, oblanceolate, 2–6(–7) cm, thin (except in vars. glabriuscula and nitens), base cuneate to rounded, lobes 0 or 1–3 per side, margins serrate (teeth 0–2 mm) to obscurely crenate-serrate in distal 1/2 only, venation craspedodromous, sometimes semicamptodromous, veins 3–5(–7) per side, apex ± acute to obtuse, surfaces usually glabrous, except with tufts of hair in abaxial vein axils.
Inflorescences

15–25-flowered;

branches glabrous;

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

(3–)10(–50)-flowered;

branches usually glabrous, sometimes densely hairy young;

bracteoles ± eglandular, except somewhat glandular in var. glabriuscula.
Flowers

12 mm diam.;

hypanthium glabrous;

sepals triangular, 1.5 mm;

stamens 20, anthers cream to orange, 0.5 mm;

styles 4 or 5.

(10–)13–15(–18) mm diam.;

hypanthium usually glabrous (hairy in C. viridis var. velutina);

sepal margins ± entire;

anthers cream or ivory.
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.

orange to deep red, rarely yellow, not pruinose, orbicular, 5–8 mm diam.;

sepals recurved.
2n

= 34, 51.

= 34, 51.

Crataegus brachyacantha

Crataegus viridis
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
from FNA
AR; GA; LA; MS; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 6 (6 in the flora).

Crataegus viridis ranges from southeastern Texas along the coastal plain and piedmont to central Florida and to tidewater Maryland; inland, it extends to near St. Louis, Missouri, and the Tennessee-Kentucky border. The species favors streamsides and moist, fertile, alluvial woodlands or agricultural derivatives of these.

Crataegus viridis is variable in leaf shape and size. The varieties intergrade somewhat and most are sympatric; they are valuable for recognizing variation. Varieties glabriuscula and velutina are regional.

Beyond the recognized varieties, sporadic forms exist with yellow or gold fruit or anthocyanic anthers. Crataegus arborescens Elliott from northern Florida is similar to C. viridis but has rose-purple anthers and slightly hairy inflorescence branches. Other local forms with red or pink anthers, such as C. antimina Sargent, C. enucleata Sargent, and C. pechiana Sargent, are found. Selected forms with bright, rather deep green foliage, and heavy crops of red fruit, for example, cultivar Winter King, are ornamentals.

Rare putative interserial hybrids exist with ser. Crus-galli (for example, Crataegus ×permixta E. J. Palmer), ser. Molles (for example, C. ×anamesa Sargent, C. ×poliophylla Sargent, C. ×stenosepala Sargent), and ser. Punctatae (J. B. Phipps 2005).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Young leaf blades, inflorescence branches, and hypanthia densely hairy.
var. velutina
1. Young leaf blades, inflorescence branches, and hypanthia glabrous except for tufts of hair in vein axils of abaxial leaf surfaces
→ 2
2. Leaf blades broadly lanceolate to narrowly rhombic, lobes distinct, 2 or 3 per side, sinuses shallow to moderately deep, max LII 15–40%, veins 4 or 5 per side.
var. viridis
2. Leaf blades ± lanceolate, narrowly to broadly elliptic or rhombic-elliptic to narrowly obovate or oblong to ovate or ± orbiculate, lobes mostly obscure or short, 0 or 1(–3) per side, max LII 5(–20)%, veins 3–7 per side
→ 3
3. Leaf blades broadly elliptic to ovate, 3–4 cm, lobes 0 or 1–3 per side, sinuses shallow to deep, coriaceous; 1-year old twigs reddish brown.
var. nitens
3. Leaf blades ± lanceolate, narrowly to broadly elliptic or rhombic-elliptic, narrowly obovate or oblong to oblong-ovate, or ± orbiculate, 2–6.3 cm, lobes 0, or 1 or 2 per side and very short or rarely 1 per side and longer, but then not on most leaves, sinuses shallow, thin to chartaceous; 1-year old twigs gray, dark gray, or tan to reddish brown
→ 4
4. Leaf blades ± lanceolate, narrowly elliptic to narrowly obovate or oblong, veins 3–7 per side.
var. lanceolata
4. Leaf blades oblong, broadly elliptic, rhombic-elliptic or oblong-ovate to ± orbiculate, veins 3–5 per side
→ 5
5. Leaf blades broadly elliptic to oblong-ovate, sometimes suborbiculate, 2.5–6.3 cm, marginal teeth 1 mm, veins 4 or 5 per side.
var. ovata
5. Leaf blades ± orbiculate to narrowly ovate, oblong, rhombic-elliptic, or narrowly obovate, 2–4 cm, marginal teeth 1.5–2 mm, veins 3(or 4) per side.
var. glabriuscula
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 501. FNA vol. 9, p. 532.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Brevispinae > ser. Brevispinae Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Virides
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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
C. viridis var. glabriuscula, C. viridis var. lanceolata, C. viridis var. nitens, C. viridis var. ovata, C. viridis var. velutina, C. viridis var. viridis
Name authority Sargent & Engelmann: Bot. Gaz. 7: 128. (1882) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 476. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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