Crataegus pruinosa |
Crataegus brachyacantha |
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frosted hawthorn, waxyfruit hawthorn |
blueberry haw, blueberry hawthorn, hoghaw, pomette bleue |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, dense, often suberect, 20–70 dm. | Shrubs or trees, 60–100(–150) dm. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | compound thorns on trunks present; twigs: new growth reddish brown, 1-year old dull purple-brown, 2-years old dull gray, older paler; thorns on twigs straight to slightly recurved, 2-years old deep purple to shiny black, usually ± fine, 3–5 cm. |
trunk bark dark gray-brown, plated; thorns on twigs absent or present, recurved, short, to 1.5 cm. |
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Leaves | petiole length 50–66% blade, sparsely glandular; blade trullate to ovate, ovate-oblong, or broadly rhombic, rarely ± deltate, 2–6(–7) cm, subcoriaceous, base broadly cuneate to subtruncate to weakly subcordate, lobes (1–)3 or 4 per side, sinuses shallow to deeper, lobe apex acute, sometimes ± obtuse, margins serrate, veins 5 or 6 per side (except smaller leaves), apex acute, surfaces glabrous (except var. virella). |
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. |
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Inflorescences | 5–10-flowered; branches glabrous, sometimes sparsely villous; bracteoles caducous, usually few, margins short-stipitate-glandular. |
15–25-flowered; branches glabrous; bracteoles caducous, narrow, small, membranous, margins eglandular, nearly glabrous. |
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Flowers | 15–25 mm diam.; sepals narrowly triangular, 5–6 mm, margins usually entire or subentire, rarely glandular-serrate, abaxially glabrous; stamens (10 or)20, anthers pale pink to bright rose or dull purple, sometimes cream, 0.6–0.8 mm; styles 3–5. |
12 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous; sepals triangular, 1.5 mm; stamens 20, anthers cream to orange, 0.5 mm; styles 4 or 5. |
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Pomes | greenish with pink or mauve areas, sometimes bright crimson or scarlet, often rather angular, 10–20 mm diam., highly pruinose, not punctate; flesh hard; sepals on collar, spreading; pyrenes 3–5. |
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. |
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2n | = 34, 51. |
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Crataegus pruinosa |
Crataegus brachyacantha |
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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 |
AR; CT; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; ME; MI; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON; QC
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AR; GA; LA; MS; OK; TX
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Discussion | Varieties 6 (6 in the flora). Crataegus pruinosa extends from Arkansas to Wisconsin, through the southern Great Lakes to southern New England, and, in the south, mainly in the Appalachians to northern Georgia. In the north of its range, Crataegus pruinosa is mainly a shrub of open successional habitats but in the south may commonly be a taller tree of open or thin woodlands. Many hawthorns have a little waxy bloom on their pomes; it is particularly prominent on Crataegus pruinosa and C. cognata compared to others. Some authors include in C. pruinosa their white-anthered counterparts, here assigned to C. cognata. Whereas C. pruinosa characteristically has entire or subentire sepal margins, some forms in the southwest of the range of the species (for example, C. calliantha Sargent, C. seducta Sargent) may have glandular-serrate sepal margins. They may represent introgression with C. coccinioides. The varieties of C. pruinosa are weakly differentiated from each other, most of them on leaf shape and size characters. The more widespread varieties constitute a range of morphotypes held together by common traits. Crataegus gaudens Sargent is a strikingly distinct form from Pennsylvania that has more or less elliptic leaves with lobes absent; it is clearly related to C. pruinosa. Note that 159. Crataegus ×coleae, a Michigan endemic, will key out here if its laterally scarred pyrenes are missed. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 574. | FNA vol. 9, p. 501. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Pruinosae | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Brevispinae > ser. Brevispinae | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Mespilus pruinosa | |||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | (H. L. Wendland) K. Koch: Hort. Dendrol., 168. (1853) | Sargent & Engelmann: Bot. Gaz. 7: 128. (1882) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Web links |