Crataegus succulenta |
Crataegus alabamensis |
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aubépine succulente, fleshy hawthorn, succulent hawthorn |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, 40–80 dm. | Shrubs or trees, 50–60 dm, branches ± weeping. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | older trunks usually bearing compound thorns; twigs: new growth reddish green, glabrous, 1-year old dark, shiny red-brown, 2–3-years old becoming dark gray, older ± paler gray; thorns on twigs numerous, usually recurved, shiny, 1-year old dark blackish brown, stout, 3–6(–8) cm. |
twigs: new growth densely tomentose, 1-year old dark gray, older gray, ± stout; thorns on twigs usually sparse or absent, ± recurved, 1-year old dark blackish gray, slender, 2–3 cm. |
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Leaves | petiole 1–2 cm, narrowly winged distally, glabrous, eglandular; blade rhombic-elliptic to broadly rhombic-ovate or elliptic, 4–7 cm widest near middle, subcoriaceous mature (then often blue-green), base cuneate (constricted), lobes 3–5 per side, obscure to well-marked, sinuses shallow, lobe apex usually subacute to obtuse, margins serrate except proximally, veins 6–8 per side, impressed, apex acute to subacute, rarely obtuse, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial scabrate-pubescent young. |
petiole slender, length 20–30% blade, pubescent, glandular; blade broadly oblong to cuneate, 2–3 cm (at anthesis, larger mature), ± thick, firm, base evenly tapered, lobes 0, margins crenate-serrate, veins 3–5 per side, adaxially shiny mature, apex ± flattened to slightly cuspidate, abaxial surface pubescent only on veins, adaxial glabrate young. |
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Inflorescences | 15–30-flowered; branches pubescent or glabrous; bracteoles linear, 1.7 cm, margins glandular. |
3–6-flowered; branches tomentose; bracteoles linear, margins sessile-glandular, adaxially short-pubescent. |
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Flowers | 12–17 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous or pubescent; sepals narrowly triangular, 4–6 mm, margins glandular-serrate to glandular-laciniate, abaxially glabrous, adaxial pubescence not recorded; stamens 20, anthers usually red or pink, rarely white, 0.5–0.7 mm; styles 2 or 3. |
20–25 mm diam.; hypanthium tomentose; sepals narrowly triangular, margins glandular-serrate, abaxially appressed-white-pubescent in center of laminae, edges glabrate; anthers yellow; styles 3–5. |
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Pomes | bright or deep red, lustrous, suborbicular, (4–)7–10(–14) mm diam., glabrous, rarely pubescent; flesh mealy or succulent mature; sepals spreading-reflexed; pyrenes 2 or 3, sides pitted. |
red often very glaucous on drying, suborbicular to pyriform, 10–15 mm diam., glabrate; sepals spreading; pyrenes 3–5. |
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2n | = 51. |
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Crataegus succulenta |
Crataegus alabamensis |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Jul–Aug. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Open woods | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
CT; IA; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; NH; NY; OH; PA; RI; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; MB; ON; QC
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AL; FL |
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Discussion | Varieties 5 (5 in the flora). Crataegus succulenta ranges through the southern Great Lakes area to the middle St. Lawrence and southern New England, to Minnesota, to Iowa, Missouri (very rare), and Ohio, the Appalachians to North Carolina. An outlier has recently been recognized in Manitoba. The dark twig colors of Crataegus succulenta are dramatic in winter and the coral red expanding bud scales are conspicuous in spring, more so than in most other species of hawthorn except C. macracantha. In summer, its commonly bluish green leaves, eglandular petioles, and impressed venation combine with thorn and twig characteristics to make this and C. macracantha usually instantly recognizable. Crataegus succulenta often forms suckering thickets in the north. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Usually scarce, Crataegus alabamensis occurs in south-central Alabama and northern Florida near Tallahassee. The type location is recorded as being on clay soil near Montgomery, Alabama, a somewhat unusual habitat for this series. Crataegus alabamensis, with its crenate-serrate leaves, resembles the larger forms of C. condigna (subser. Tenues); it is a more robust plant with much larger flowers and fruits. The type form has leaves particularly wide relative to length. The rare C. adunca has, unusually for this series, violet anthers. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 518. | FNA vol. 9, p. 626. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Macracanthae > ser. Macracanthae | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Lacrimatae | ||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | C. adunca | |||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Schrader ex Link: Handbuch 2: 78. (1831) | Beadle: Bot. Gaz. 30: 342. (1900) | ||||||||||||||||
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