Crataegus flabellata
Crataegus fecunda
aubépine flabelliforme, fan-leaf hawthorn
St. Clair or fecund hawthorn
twigs: new growth reddish at first, usually sparsely pubescent, 1-year old deep chestnut brown, older dull gray;
thorns on twigs 1-year old shiny, dark brown, stout to slender, 4–6 cm.
trunks to 3 dm diam.;
twigs: new growth dark green turning orange, lustrous, pilose, 1-year old orange-brown, older ashy gray;
thorns on twigs ± straight to recurved, 1-year old chestnut or blackish brown, slender, 5–6.5 cm.
petiole 1–2 mm wide, length 40–50% blade, glandular;
blade glossy, dark green, broadly elliptic to ovate, 4–7 cm, base cuneate to slightly rounded, lobes 4 or 5 per side, sinuses deep, lobe apex acuminate, margins sharply serrate, teeth gland-tipped, veins 5 or 6 per side, apex acute, abaxial surface glabrous except along veins, adaxial densely appressed-scabrous young, glabrescent.
stipules stipitate, linear to semilunate, 1.3–2 cm, coarsely glandular-serrate;
petiole ± winged apically, 13–20 mm, stout, length 26–31% blade, adaxially grooved, villous, often scattered dark glandular;
blade pale yellow-green abaxially, dark green when mature, red in fall, oblong-obovate to ovate or broadly ovate, 5–6.5 cm, thin and firm, base gradually or abruptly narrowed, obscurely ciliate, lobes 0, margins usually doubly, coarsely serrate (except proximally), teeth spreading, 2–3 mm, glandular, venation craspedodromous, midvein stout, veins 7–9 per side, remote, only slightly impressed adaxially, apex acute, rarely rounded, short-pointed, lustrous, adaxial scabrous young, scabrous or glabrous mature, midveins and primary veins villous with occasional white hairs.
5–10-flowered;
branches villous;
bracteole frequency not recorded, linear.
6–17-flowered;
branches sparsely villous;
bracteoles linear to oblong-obovate, margins sparsely glandular-serrate.
13–17 mm diam.;
hypanthium glabrous or villous at base;
sepals 4–5 mm, margins entire, glandular to glandular-serrate, rarely nearly eglandular, apex acute, abaxial pubescence not recorded;
stamens 5–10 or 20, anthers usually pink;
styles 3–5.
18 mm diam.;
hypanthium ± villous;
sepals spreading after anthesis, elongated, shorter than petals, margins subentire or shallowly to deeply glandular-serrate, stipitate-glandular, apex acuminate, abaxially villous;
stamens 10(–15), anthers dark purple, small;
styles 2 or 3.
crimson, ± ellipsoid, 8–10 mm diam., sometimes ± pruinose;
sepals spreading or usually erose, not or obscurely elevated;
pyrenes 3–5, dorsally deeply grooved.
borne in wide, drooping, multi-fruited glabrous clusters, dull orange-red, with dark lenticels, short-oblong to suborbicular ends full, rounded, 13 mm diam., sparsely hairy until nearly fully grown;
flesh pale green, thick, firm, hard, dry, sweet;
sepals erect, incurved, linear-lanceolate, coarsely glandular-serrate above middle;
pyrenes 2 or 3, rounded, 8 mm.
= 51.
Crataegus flabellata
Crataegus fecunda
Crataegus flabellata occurs along the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario, on both sides of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and to Massachusetts. Reports for Newfoundland have not been substantiated.
Crataegus flabellata is distinctive with its leaf blades glossy dark green, ovate to broadly elliptic, cuneate at the base, and with deep acuminate lobes. Specimens with less glandularity or serration of the sepal margins may resemble C. fluviatilis. In spite of the obvious differences in morphology and range, C. flabellata and C. macrosperma often have been combined by floristicians. From C. chrysocarpa, C. flabellata is distinguished by its shinier, ellipsoid, glabrous fruit, by the usually deeper, acuminate lobes of its glossy, dark green leaves, and by longer, slightly more acute sepals. Typically, the inflorescences and hypanthia of eastern C. chrysocarpa are densely hairy, practically tomentose, unlike C. flabellata with its more sparsely hairy pedicels and glabrous distal hypanthia. It is conceivable that, due to morphological intermediacy and the sympatry of all three species within the range of C. flabellata, this species represents the result of ancient hybridization between C. chrysocarpa and C. macrosperma.
Crataegus flabellata is usually divided into two varieties: var. flabellata (10 stamens) and var. grayana (20 stamens), the latter being particularly common in southern Quebec. There appears to be little, if any, other constant differentiating feature. Crataegus crudelis, also from Quebec, is a form recognized by long thorns (to 10 cm).
The name Crataegus densiflora Sargent, which pertains to C. flabellata, is illegitimate.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Of conservation concern.
Crataegus fecunda was formerly found in the central United States, mainly near the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. It has apparently not been seen in the wild since the 1930s, an example of the decline of previously well-documented taxa, some of which are seemingly extinct.
Crataegus fecunda is similar to glabrous-inflorescence forms of C. persimilis; it always has sharper and more prominent leaf marginal teeth, usually proportionately narrower leaves with more acute apices, slightly hairy inflorescences, and plane-sided pyrenes. According to Sargent, it had fruit 22–25 mm diam.
Crataegus shinnersii Kruschke, known from a handful of specimens in Wisconsin, is similar and would key here but has cream or ivory anthers and glabrous inflorescences; its precise taxonomic disposition is uncertain.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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