Flora of North America species comparison

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Crataegus iracunda

Crataegus chrysocarpa

forest hawthorn, passionate hawthorn, stolonbearing hawthorn

aubépine dorée, Columbia hawthorn, fireberry hawthorn, goldenberry hawthorn, Piper's hawthorn
Habit Shrubs or trees, 30–80 dm. Shrubs, 20–35 dm, sometimes clonal.
Stems

twigs: new growth greenish, glabrous, 1-year old deep reddish brown, 2-years old grayer;

thorns on twigs 2-years old blackish or dark gray, shiny, slender, 2.5–4 cm.

twigs: new growth usually appressed-pubescent, 1-year old usually dull yellowish to greenish brown or gray-brown to light or dark tan;

thorns on twigs variable, straight to slightly recurved, 1-year old shiny, dark mahogany or black, ± slender to ± stout, 3–6 cm.
Leaves

petiole length 40–50% blade, eglandular;

blade ovate to ovate-deltate, 2–4(–5) cm, 1.2–1.4 times as long as wide, 40–60% mature size at anthesis, base broadly rounded to subtruncate or subcordate, lobes 4 per side, sinuses moderately shallow, lobe apex ca. 90 at tip, often less, margins serrate, teeth regular, 0.5–1 mm, with minute, caducous gland-tipped, veins 3 or 4(or 5) per side, apex acute, abaxial surface glabrous except along veins, adaxial finely appressed-pubescent young.

petiole length 50% blade, usually narrowly winged distally, pubescent, glandular young, often persisting;

blade yellow or purplish in very dry spots (fall), ± rhombic to rhombic-ovate, rhombic-obovate, or ovate to broadly elliptic, on extension shoots similar, larger, 2–5(–7.5) cm, thin to chartaceous, base ± cuneate, sometimes rounded to broadly ovate (at early anthesis not strikingly flabellate), lobes 2–4(–6) per side, sinuses moderately deep, lobe apex acute to subacute, margins serrate, teeth glands caducous, numerous, small, veins 3–5(–7) per side, apex acute or subacute, abaxial surface glabrous, sparsely pilose-glabrescent, or villous, veins usually pubescent, adaxial appressed-scabrous, glabrescent or short-appressed-pubescent.
Inflorescences

4–10-flowered;

branches glabrous;

bracteoles few, ± linear.

5–10-flowered, compact;

branches sparsely to densely villous, rarely glabrous;

bracteoles usually hyaline, linear, membranous, margins sessile- or short-stipitate-glandular.
Flowers

12–15 mm diam.;

hypanthium glabrous;

sepals 4–5 mm, margins ± entire or slightly glandular-serrate, abaxially glabrous;

stamens 10, anthers pink to purple;

styles 3–5.

15–20 mm diam.;

hypanthium usually villous, sometimes glabrous;

sepals triangular, 4 mm, margins glandular-serrate, apex subacute to obtuse, abaxially pubescent;

stamens (5–)10(or 20), anthers cream or ivory, sometimes pink;

styles 3 or 4(or 5).
Pomes

orange to red, or blotched green, suborbicular, 8–10 mm diam.;

sepals spreading;

pyrenes 3–5, dorsally grooved.

scarlet to deep red, only darkened to burgundy if dried and shriveled (except in var. vernonensis), usually suborbicular to broadly ellipsoid or oblong, 8–10(–12) mm diam., pubescent or glabrous;

sepal remnants present, spreading to reflexed, not or rarely obscurely elevated;

pyrenes 3 or 4(or 5).
2n

= 68.

Crataegus iracunda

Crataegus chrysocarpa
Phenology Flowering Apr; fruiting Sep–Oct.
Habitat Open woodlands, brush, fencerows, cutovers
Elevation 20–300 m (100–1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NH; NY; OR; RI; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Crataegus iracunda ranges from Louisiana to South Carolina and Georgia, and to Virginia, but only at low altitudes. Nearly all records of C. iracunda north of the listed distribution are referable to C. macrosperma or to various species in ser. Populneae.

The distinguishing features of Crataegus iracunda are most evident when it is in flower. The species can be construed as a smaller, more southern, allopatric relative of C. macrosperma distinguished by smaller leaves (particularly at anthesis), more slender thorns, and harder, drier pomes. Its distribution is almost wholly to the south of or in Appalachia, at lower elevations than C. macrosperma. The nearest records of C. macrosperma to the Louisiana populations of C. iracunda are from the Arkansas Ozarks.

Crataegus iracunda has been confused with C. gattingeri (ser. Pruinosae) but is readily distinguished in flower by adaxial leaf pubescence, stamen number, and by lacking the usually attenuate terminal leaf lobes of the latter. However, in fruit, unless the filament bases can be counted, one is left with the less reliable feature of the terminal lobe shape. Confusion with the larger-leaved C. populnea (ser. Populneae) is perhaps possible, but the two species are essentially allopatric and their leaves differ markedly in size and texture.

Earlier attempts to segregate varieties based on leaf size are not taken up here but may have merit as the relatively numerous Louisiana (Crataegus drymophila) form has much smaller leaves than North Carolina specimens.

Variety brumalis (Ashe) Kruschke (Crataegus brumalis Ashe) with syntype material from near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a different entity. Compared to C. iracunda, it has larger and differently shaped (often more or less truncate-based) leaves, proportionately larger at anthesis, and adaxially subglabrous, conspicuously glandular petioles, and larger flowers. This taxon (as a variety of C. iracunda) is primarily responsible for the northwards extension of the range of the latter species. In fact, north of the Mason-Dixon line, most of the specimens attributed to C. brumalis seen by the author appear to be forms of C. macrosperma.

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

Varieties 9 (9 in the flora).

Crataegus chrysocarpa is one of the most wide-ranging North American species of the genus, occurring from inland of the Cascades and Coastal Ranges of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia to the Atlantic from Newfoundland to New England; it is correspondingly variable. Ashe’s type from the Rocky Mountain foothills in northern Colorado is from the south of the range. East of the Rocky Mountains, C. chrysocarpa is the most northerly and cold-adapted species of hawthorn in North America and nearly reaches Hudson Bay in Ontario. Rare northeastern forms are arborescent (to 70 dm).

Variety chrysocarpa is by far the most common form through most of the species range; numerous well-marked to only slightly different forms, many accepted here at varietal level, occur in different parts of the range. The main regional variant is var. piperi, a well-marked intermontane form.

One to two year old twigs of var. chrysocarpa are much darker in the east (reddish tan or darker) than in the west (light tan to gray-brown).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Stamens 20
→ 2
1. Stamens 5–10
→ 3
2. Anthers cream or ivory.
var. vigintistamina
2. Anthers pink.
var. blanchardii
3. Inflorescence branches lanate; anthers pale pink; fully ripe pomes burgundy.
var. vernonensis
3. Inflorescence branches glabrous or pubescent, sparsely to densely villous, or thin-pilose; anthers cream to ivory, sometimes pink; fully ripe pomes red
→ 4
4. Abaxial leaf surfaces persistently hairy (rough-pubescent or with scattered long hairs)
→ 5
4. Abaxial leaf surfaces glabrous, veins sometimes pilose
→ 6
5. Leaf blades ovate to broadly ovate or broadly elliptic, bases rounded to broadly cuneate, lobe apices subacute, max LII 5–10%, veins 6 or 7 per side; Great Lakes region and eastwards.
var. faxonii
5. Leaf blades rhombic to narrowly rhombic or rhombic-elliptic, bases ± cuneate, lobe apices acute, max LII 15–20%, veins 5 or 6 per side; Pacific Northwest and adjacent Canada.
var. piperi
6. Anthers pink.
var. praecox
6. Anthers cream or ivory
→ 7
7. Inflorescence branches glabrous; leaf surfaces: adaxial glabrous young.
var. phoeniceoides
7. Inflorescence branches sparsely to densely villous or thin-pilose; leaf surfaces: adaxial appressed-short-pubescent or appressed-pubescent young, glabrescent or becoming short scabrous
→ 8
8. Hypanthia densely villous.
var. chrysocarpa
8. Hypanthia glabrous.
var. subrotundifolia
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 563. FNA vol. 9, p. 597.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Tenuifoliae Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Rotundifoliae
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. 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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
C. chrysocarpa var. blanchardii, C. chrysocarpa var. chrysocarpa, C. chrysocarpa var. faxonii, C. chrysocarpa var. phoeniceoides, C. chrysocarpa var. piperi, C. chrysocarpa var. praecox, C. chrysocarpa var. subrotundifolia, C. chrysocarpa var. vernonensis, C. chrysocarpa var. vigintistamina
Synonyms C. drymophila, C. iracunda var. silvicola C. columbiana var. chrysocarpa, C. rotundifolia var. chrysocarpa
Name authority Beadle: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 124. (1902) Ashe: Bull. North Carolina Agric. Exp. Sta. 175: 110. (1900)
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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