Crataegus succulenta |
Crataegus brazoria |
|||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
aubépine succulente, fleshy hawthorn, succulent hawthorn |
Brazos hawthorn |
|||||||||||||||||
Habit | Shrubs or trees, 40–80 dm. | Shrubs or trees, 80–100 dm. | ||||||||||||||||
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. |
older trunk bark gray and black, scaly; twigs: new growth densely white-hairy, 1-year old shiny brown, older pale gray; thorns on twigs absent or few, ± straight, 2-years old black, slender, 4–7 cm. |
||||||||||||||||
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 length 35–40% blade, densely pubescent young, becoming sparsely to densely pubescent, eglandular; blade elliptic to narrowly ovate, 4–7 cm, thin, base curved-cuneate, lobes 0, or 1 or 2 apicula per side, margins serrate, teeth 1.5–2.5 mm, veins 4–6 per side, apex acute, abaxial surface woolly pubescent, glabrescent, adaxial scabrous young, variably glabrescent. |
||||||||||||||||
Inflorescences | 15–30-flowered; branches pubescent or glabrous; bracteoles linear, 1.7 cm, margins glandular. |
7–12-flowered; branches tomentose; bracteoles caducous, linear, subherbaceous, margins glandular, parallel veined, abaxially pubescent. |
||||||||||||||||
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. |
15–20 mm diam.; hypanthium tomentose; sepals narrowly triangular, 5–6 mm, margins glandular-laciniate to nearly entire, abaxially densely pubescent; stamens 20, anthers rose; styles 4 or 5. |
||||||||||||||||
Infructescences | fruiting pedicels pubescent. |
|||||||||||||||||
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. |
usually red, sometimes bright yellow to golden or orange, suborbicular, 8–12 mm diam., often bearing residual hairs, particularly toward base or apex; sepals often broken or absent, broadly spreading; pyrenes 4 or 5. |
||||||||||||||||
2n | = 51. |
|||||||||||||||||
Crataegus succulenta |
Crataegus brazoria |
|||||||||||||||||
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Sep–Oct. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Rich alluvial soil, brush | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 10–100 m (0–300 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
|
TX |
||||||||||||||||
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.) |
Of conservation concern. Crataegus brazoria is restricted to south-central and southeastern Texas. Crataegus brazoria was originally described as yellow-fruited with narrow leaves that more or less lack lobes. Such forms are very rare. The species is here expanded to include more abundant, red-fruited forms that extend into central Texas and are generally similar to C. texana except in leaf shape. It is plausible, because of sympatry and fruit color, that yellow-fruited C. brazoria represents introgression between its red-fruited form and C. mollis var. viburnifolia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||||||||||
Key |
|
|||||||||||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 518. | FNA vol. 9, p. 556. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Macracanthae > ser. Macracanthae | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Molles | ||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Schrader ex Link: Handbuch 2: 78. (1831) | Sargent: Bot. Gaz. 31: 233. (1901) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |
|