Flora of North America species comparison

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Crataegus iracunda

Crataegus laurentiana

forest hawthorn, passionate hawthorn, stolonbearing hawthorn

Brunet's hawthorn, Laurentian hawthorn
Habit Shrubs or trees, 30–80 dm. Shrubs, 30–50 dm.
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.

trunks much-branched, thick, stout;

twigs strongly flexuous, stout, new growth light orange-green to dark green, tomentose, soon glabrescent, 1-year old bright orange-brown, very lustrous, older gray;

thorns on twigs often retrorse, 1-year old lustrous chestnut brown to very dark red-brown, very stout, 5–7.5 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.

deciduous;

stipules bright red before falling, lanceolate to oblanceolate, 8–15 mm, finely glandular-serrate;

petiole often dark red after mid summer, stout to slender, length 40–50% blade, distally ± broadly winged, villous young, glabrescent, deeply grooved, sessile-glandular young, glands caducous, dark, small;

blade in early spring yellow-green, dark green, abaxially paler, oblong to oblong-obovate or ovate to rhombic (suborbiculate in var. dissimilifolia), 4–6 cm, thin to subcoriaceous, base gradually or abruptly narrowed from near middle, lobes 4 or 5 per side, sinuses ± deep except in var. dissimilifolia, LII 20–33%, narrow, lobe apex acute, margins sharply glandular-serrate except proximally, venation craspedodromous, veins 5 per side, apex acute or acuminate, matte, abaxial surface with stout midvein, glabrous, rarely sparsely hairy, veins sparsely white villous, adaxial pale, short-appressed-hairy.
Inflorescences

4–10-flowered;

branches glabrous;

bracteoles few, ± linear.

6–15-flowered, lax;

branches hairy;

bracteoles caducous, pallid bright red, linear, membranous, margins finely glandular-serrate.
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 externally pale, long-matted hairy at base, internally glabrate to puberulous;

sepals reflexed, shorter than petals, narrow, margins conspicuously glandular-serrate, apex acuminate, abaxial surface glabrate, adaxial villous;

stamens 10, anthers cream or pale pink, fading purple;

styles 3–5.
Pomes

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

sepals spreading;

pyrenes 3–5, dorsally grooved.

in drooping or erect infructescences, branches slightly villous, red to dark crimson, oblong to pyriform, 8–15 mm;

flesh yellow, thin, becoming sweet and succulent;

sepals prominent, appressed, with deep, wide cavity;

pyrenes (3 or)4 or 5, thick, wide, 6 mm, dorsally prominently grooved, sides ± roughened, irregularly eroded or pitted.

Crataegus iracunda

Crataegus laurentiana
Phenology Flowering Apr; fruiting Sep–Oct. Flowering Jun; fruiting Sep–Oct.
Habitat Open woodlands, brush, fencerows, cutovers Brush, open woods, rocky pastures
Elevation 20–300 m (100–1000 ft) 20–200 m (100–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ME; MI; MN; WI; NF; QC
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.)

Crataegus laurentiana was considered a sporadic entity of the northeast and Wisconsin until the recent discovery of a large population in Minnesota.

Hybrid origin for Crataegus laurentiana between a ser. Macracanthae species and C. chrysocarpa in the broad sense, or C. jonesiae, is supported by intermediacy and sympatry of the suspected parents. Chrysocarpoid characteristics include leaf shape and glandular petioles; macracanthoid traits include late anthesis, pink anthers, and variably eroded pyrene sides.

Specimens from Newfoundland and Quebec are var. laurentiana and are characterized by larger but proportionately narrow leaves, thicker and paler twigs, and pink, normal-sized (1 mm) anthers. They may be distinguished from the partly sympatric var. brunetiana by the smaller and proportionately broader leaves of the latter, and cream anthers, more like Crataegus chrysocarpa. In both forms, the leaves abaxially have conspicuously appressed-pilose veins. A Maine variant is atypically arborescent.

The rare var. dissimilifolia Kruschke from northern Wisconsin has white-cream anthers but larger and more nearly isodiametric, shallowly incised leaves. Similar, also rare, plants from southern Manitoba have pink anthers. Stature and leaf size and shape in both of these place them outside the range of C. chrysocarpa; perhaps C. submollis is a parent.

Unnamed populations from a large area in northeastern Minnesota are the most biologically interesting. They are self-perpetuating and, compared to other forms, have more slender twigs that are generally very dark in their second year, like Crataegus macracantha, smaller leaves, somewhat impressed leaf venation, small (0.6 mm), pink anthers, and ellipsoid fruits.

Crataegus fernaldii is a rare form from Maine and Quebec with lax, elongated, extremely villous corymbs, large flowers (20 mm diam.), pink anthers, and large, pear-shaped fruits gracefully drooping in wide clusters on their long stems.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 563. FNA vol. 9, p. 640.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Tenuifoliae Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus
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. 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. 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. drymophila, C. iracunda var. silvicola C. brunetiana, C. brunetiana var. fernaldii, C. fernaldii, C. laurentiana var. brunetiana
Name authority Beadle: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 124. (1902) Sargent: Rhodora 3: 77. (1901)
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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