Crataegus succulenta |
Crataegus pennsylvanica |
|||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
aubépine succulente, fleshy hawthorn, succulent hawthorn |
Pennsylvania hawthorn, Pennsylvania thorn |
|||||||||||||||||
Habit | Shrubs or trees, 40–80 dm. | Shrubs or trees, 70–80 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. |
trunk bark newly exposed orange-brown, older buff, fibrous, checked into longitudinal plates; twigs: new growth densely pubescent, 1-year old fawn, older gray; thorns on twigs absent or few, usually recurved, 2-years old shiny dark brown to blackish, stout to more slender, 3–5 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. |
stipules axillary, circinate, herbaceous, gland-bordered; petiole relatively slender, stouter than C. coccinea, length 30–35% blade, densely pubescent young, sparsely mature, often sparsely stipitate-glandular; blade broadly ovate to ovate-deltate, 6–10 cm, slightly coriaceous, base broadly cuneate to truncate, lobes 4–6 per side, sinuses shallow, lobe apex acute to obscure, margins sharply serrate, teeth at base often stipitate-glandular, veins 5–7 per side, apex acute, abaxial surface sparsely scabrous-pubescent young, glabrescent, veins hairy mature, adaxial densely appressed-scabrous young. |
||||||||||||||||
Inflorescences | 15–30-flowered; branches pubescent or glabrous; bracteoles linear, 1.7 cm, margins glandular. |
8–20-flowered; branches tomentose; bracteoles variably persistent, linear-lanceolate, membranous to (larger) ± herbaceous, margins glandular. |
||||||||||||||||
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. |
17–21 mm diam.; hypanthium densely tomentose; sepals narrowly triangular, 7–8 mm, margins glandular-laciniate, abaxially glabrate; stamens 5 or 6, or 10, anthers cream to pale pink or salmon; styles 4 or 5. |
||||||||||||||||
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. |
bright red, suborbicular, 10–12 mm diam., densely villous; sepals prominent, erect-patent; pyrenes 4 or 5. |
||||||||||||||||
2n | = 51. |
|||||||||||||||||
Crataegus succulenta |
Crataegus pennsylvanica |
|||||||||||||||||
Phenology | Flowering May–Jun; fruiting Sep–Oct. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Brush, successional fields, open woodlands, fencerows | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 10–200 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
|
DE; NC; NY; OH; PA; ON |
||||||||||||||||
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.) |
Crataegus pennsylvanica ranges mainly to the south of C. submollis and may be locally common. A highly disjunct record from North Carolina (Buncombe County) appears unequivocal. Crataegus pennsylvanica has been confused with C. mollis and various members of ser. Coccineae. Except for a small overlap in northeastern Ohio, its range lies outside that of C. mollis. Crataegus pennsylvanica is more similar to C. submollis, from which it differs by its less variable leaves (usually broadly ovate, more or less truncate, relatively large), by its much less thorny nature, by its indumentum on young parts being tomentose rather than densely pubescent, and by its being more treelike (C. submollis is usually a shrub). Thorns are absent or sparse on older trees. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||||||||||
Key |
|
|||||||||||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 518. | FNA vol. 9, p. 557. | ||||||||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | C. tatnalliana | |||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Schrader ex Link: Handbuch 2: 78. (1831) | Ashe: Ann. Carnegie Mus. 1: 394. (1902) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |
|