Leaves ovate to elliptic or rarely lanceolate, acute or acuminate and often abruptly short-pointed at apex, rounded and occasionally slightly cordate or rarely cuneate at base, and sharply and coarsely serrate with subulate callous-tipped teeth, covered when they unfold with long matted pale hairs more abundant on the lower surface than on the upper surface, soon glabrous, dark red-brown until nearly half grown, and at maturity dark green and slightly glaucous above, paler below, usually 2′—2½′ long and 1′—1½′ wide, rarely 3′—3½′ long and not more than 1′ wide, with a thin midrib and primary veins, rarely deep green and lustrous above (f. nitida Wieg.); petioles slender, slightly villose at first, soon glabrous, ½′—1′ in length. Flowers ½′—¾′ long, appearing when the leaves are nearly half grown on pedicels ½′—1′ in length, in open few-flowered nodding racemes, becoming much lengthened before the fruit ripens, their bracts and bractlets linear-lanceolate, slightly villose, tinged with rose color; calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous, the lobes lanceolate or subulate, long-acuminate, glabrous on the outer surface, tomentose on the inner surface, usually reflexed before the petals fall; petals oblong-obovate, rounded at apex, about ⅙′ wide; summit of the ovary glabrous. Fruit ripening in June and July, obovoid to subglobose, usually rather broader than long, about ⅓′ in diameter, purple or nearly black, glaucous, sweet and succulent, on pedicels often 1½′—2′ in length.
A tree, sometimes 30°—40° high, often with a tall trunk 12′—18′ in diameter, small spreading branches forming a narrow round-topped head, and slender glabrous branchlets reddish brown when they first appear, rather darker during their first winter and dull grayish brown in their second season, and marked by small dark lenticels; at the north often a shrub sometimes only a few feet high. Winter-buds ½′ long, about 1/12′ thick, green tinged with red, the inner scales lanceolate, bright red above the middle, ciliate with silky white hairs, and sometimes 1′ long when fully grown. Bark ¼′—½′ thick, dark reddish brown, divided by shallow fissures into narrow longitudinal ridges and covered by small persistent scales. Wood heavy, exceedingly hard, strong, close-grained, dark brown sometimes tinged with red, with thick lighter-colored sapwood of 40—50 layers of annual growth; occasionally used for the handles of tools and other small implements.
Distribution. Cool ravines and hillsides; Newfoundland, through the maritime provinces of Canada, Quebec and Ontario to northern Wisconsin, and southward through New England, New York and Pennsylvania, and along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia; on the North Carolina Mountains ascending to altitudes of 5500°; common and generally distributed at the north and in New England, New York and through the Appalachian forests; the forma nitida only in Newfoundland.
Occasionally cultivated and very beautiful in spring with its abundant pure white flowers and conspicuous red-brown leaves.
3. Amelanchier florida Lindl. Service Berry.
Amelanchier alnifolia Sarg., probably not Nutt.
Amelanchier Cusickii Fern.
Leaves oblong-ovate to oval or ovate, or at the end of vigorous shoots broad-ovate or occasionally broad-obovate, rounded or rarely acute at apex, rounded or slightly cordate at base, and coarsely serrate only above the middle with straight teeth; when they unfold often tinged with red and sometimes floccose-pubescent below, usually soon glabrous, at maturity thin, dark green on the upper surface, pale and rarely pubescent on the lower surface, 1½′—2½′ long, and 1′—1½′ wide, with a thin midrib and about ten pairs of primary veins; petioles slender, at first glabrous or puberulous becoming glabrous, ½′—1′ in length. Flowers ½′—¾′ long, appearing when the leaves are about half grown on pedicels ⅙′—¼′ in length, in short crowded erect glabrous or pubescent racemes, their bracts and bractlets scarious, slightly villose; calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous or tomentose, the lobes ovate, long-acuminate, glabrous or tomentose on the outer surface, tomentose or rarely nearly glabrous on the inner surface, soon reflexed; petals oblong-obovate gradually narrowed or broad at the rounded apex, ⅙′—¼′ wide; summit of the ovary densely tomentose. Fruit usually ripening in July, on pedicels ½′—¾′ long, in short nearly erect or spreading racemes, short-oblong or ovoid, dark blue, more or less covered with a glaucous bloom, ¼′ to nearly ½′ in diameter, sweet and succulent.
A tree, occasionally 30°—40° high, with a tall trunk 12′—14′ in diameter, small erect and spreading branches forming an oblong open head, and slender branchlets glabrous, pubescent or puberulous when they first appear, bright red-brown and usually glabrous during their first season, rather darker in their second year, and ultimately dark gray-brown; more often a large or small shrub. Winter-buds ovoid to ellipsoidal, acute or acuminate, dark chestnut-brown, glabrous or puberulous, ⅙′—¼′ long, scales of the inner ranks ovate, acute, brightly colored, coated with pale silky hairs, ½′—¾′ long. Bark about ⅛′ thick, smooth or slightly fissured, and light brown slightly tinged with red. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, light brown. The nutritious fruit was an important article of food with the Indians of northwestern America, who formerly gathered and dried it in large quantities.
Distribution. Valley of the Yukon River (near Dawson) and Wrangell, Alaska, and southward to the coast region of British Columbia, and southward in Washington and Oregon possibly to northern California, ranging east in the United States to western Idaho, and probably to the northern Rocky Mountain region; its range, like that of the other species of western North America, still very imperfectly known.
7. CRATÆGUS. Hawthorn.
Trees or shrubs, with usually dark scaly bark, rigid terete more or less zigzag branchlets marked by oblong mostly pale lenticels, and by small horizontal slightly elevated leaf-scars, light green when they first appear, becoming red or orange-brown and lustrous or gray, rarely unarmed or armed with stout or slender short or elongated axillary simple or branched spines generally similar in color to that of the branches or trunk on which they grow, often bearing while young linear elongated caducous bracts, and usually producing at their base one or rarely two buds often developing the following year into a branch, a leaf, or a cluster of flowers, or sometimes lengthening into a leafy branch. Winter-buds small, globose or subglobose, covered by numerous imbricated scales, the outer rounded and obtuse at apex, bright chestnut-brown and lustrous, the inner accrescent, green or rose color, often glandular, soon deciduous. Leaves conduplicate in the bud, simple, generally serrate, sometimes 3-nerved, often more or less lobed, especially on vigorous leading branchlets, membranaceous to coriaceous, petiolate, deciduous; stipules often glandular-serrate, linear, acuminate, frequently bright-colored, deciduous, or on vigorous branchlets often foliaceous, coarsely serrate, usually lunate and stalked and mostly persistent until autumn. Flowers pedicellate, in few or many-flowered simple or compound cymose corymbs terminal on short lateral leafy branchlets, with linear usually bright-colored often glandular caducous bracts and bractlets leaving prominent gland-like scars, the lower branches of compound corymbs usually from the axils of upper leaves; branches of the inflorescence mostly 3-flowered, the central flower opening before the others; calyx-tube usually obconic, 5-lobed, the lobes acute or acuminate and usually gland-tipped, rarely foliaceous, glandular-serrate or entire, green or reddish toward the apex, reflexed after the flowers open, persistent and often enlarged on the fruit, or deciduous; disk thin or fleshy, entire, lobed or slightly sulcate, concave or somewhat convex; petals imbricated in the bud, orbicular, entire or somewhat erose or rarely toothed at apex, white or rarely rose color, spreading, soon deciduous; stamens often variable in number in the same species by imperfect development, but normally 5 in 1 row and alternate with the petals, or 10 in 5 pairs in 1 row alternate with the petals, or 15 in 2 rows, those of the outer row in 5 pairs opposite the sepals and alternate with and rather longer than those of the inner row, or 20 in 3 rows, those of the inner row shorter and alternate with those of the 2d row, or 25 in 4 rows, those of the 4th row alternate with those of the 3d row; filaments broad at base, subulate, incurved, often persistent on the fruit; anthers pale yellow to nearly white, or pink to light or dark rose color or purple; ovary composed of 1—5 carpels inserted in the bottom of the calyx-tube and united with it; styles free, with dilated truncate stigmas, persistent on the mature carpels; ovules ascending; raphe dorsal; micropyle inferior. Fruit subglobose, ovoid or short-oblong, scarlet, orange-colored, red, yellow, blue, or black, generally open and concave at apex; flesh usually dry and mealy; nutlets 1—5; united below, more or less free and slightly spreading above the middle, thick-walled, rounded, acute, or acuminate at apex, full and rounded or narrowed at base, rounded or conspicuously ridged and grooved on the back, flattened, or nearly round when only 1, their ventral faces plane or plano-convex, in some species penetrated by longitudinal cavities or hollows, and marked by a more or less conspicuous hypostyle sometimes extending to below the middle or nearly to the base of the nutlet. Seed solitary by abortion, erect, compressed, acute, with a membranaceous light chestnut-brown coat; embryo filling the cavity of the seed; cotyledons plano-convex, radicle short, inferior.
Cratægus is most abundant in eastern North America, where it is distributed from Newfoundland to the mountains of northern Mexico, and is represented by a large number of arborescent and shrubby species. A few species occur in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific-coast regions, and in China, Japan, Siberia, central and southwestern Asia, and in Europe. The genus is still very imperfectly known in North America, and in the absence of sufficient information concerning them several arborescent species are necessarily excluded from the following enumeration. The beautiful and abundant flowers and showy fruits make many of the species desirable ornaments of parks and gardens, and several are cultivated. Of exotic species, the Old World Cratægus Oxyacantha L., and C. monogyna Jacq., early introduced into the United States as hedge plants, have now become naturalized in many places in the northeastern and middle states. Cratægus produces heavy hard tough close-grained red-brown heartwood and thick lighter colored usually pale sapwood; useful for the handles of tools, mallets, and other small articles.
The number of the stamens, although it differs on the same species within certain usually constant limits, and the color of the anthers, which appears to be specifically constant with one exception, afford the most satisfactory characters for distinguishing the species in the different groups.
Cratægus, from κράτος, is in reference to the strength of the wood of these trees.
CONSPECTUS OF THE NATURAL GROUPS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARBORESCENT SPECIES.
- 1. Nutlets without ventral cavities.
- *Veins of the leaves extending to the points of the lobes only.
- †Petioles short, usually slightly wing-margined above the middle, glandless or with occasional minute glands; leaves cuneate at base.
- Corymbs compound, generally many-flowered; flowers appearing after the unfolding of the leaves; flesh of the fruit usually green or greenish yellow, dry and mealy.
- Leaves coriaceous or subcoriaceous, rarely thin, dark green and shining above, usually serrate only above the middle, their veins thin except on vigorous shoots; fruit mostly subglobose to short-oblong; nutlets 1—5, thick, usually obtuse and rounded at the ends, prominently ridged on the back.
- I. Crus-galli (page 400).
- Leaves membranaceous or subcoriaceous, mostly acute, their veins prominent; fruit short-oblong to subglobose, often conspicuously punctate, ⅓′—1′ long; nutlets 2—5, prominently ridged on the back.
- II. Punctatæ (page 422).
- Corymbs simple, few-flowered; flowers appearing with or before the unfolding of the leaves; fruit scarlet, lustrous; flesh yellow, juicy, subacid; nutlets rounded and slightly grooved on the back.
- III. Æstivales (page 434).
- †Petioles elongated, slender, eglandular or occasionally glandular; corymbs many-flowered (few-flowered in one species each of Dilatatæ and Intricatæ).
- ++Leaves acute or acuminate at the ends, broad at base on one species; fruit not more than ⅝′ in diameter; flesh usually thin and dry.
- IV. Virides (page 437).
- ++Leaves usually broad at base.
- Fruit subglobose to short-oblong, often broader than high, red or green, often slightly 5-angled, pruinose; mature calyx raised on a short tube; flesh of the fruit dry and mealy; nutlets 5, grooved on the back.
- V. Pruinosæ (page 449).
- Fruit subglobose to short-oblong, ovoid or obovoid, generally longer than broad, rarely slightly pruinose, mature calyx sessile; flesh of the fruit dry and mealy; stamens 10, anthers rose color; leaves hairy above early in the season.
- VI. Silvicolæ (page 453).
- Fruit short-oblong to obovoid, red or scarlet; flesh of the fruit usually soft and juicy; anthers rose color or pink; leaves thin, at maturity glabrous below.
- VII. Tenuifoliæ (page 456).
- Fruit subglobose, oblong or obovoid, crimson, scarlet, or rarely yellow; flesh thick, occasionally succulent, and edible; nutlets usually 5, thin, pointed at the ends, mostly obscurely grooved or ridged on the back; corymbs tomentose or pubescent; leaves membranaceous to subcoriaceous, broad, rounded or cuneate at base, at maturity usually pubescent or tomentose below.
- VIII. Molles (page 463).
- Fruit short-oblong to obovoid, scarlet; flesh usually soft and juicy; nutlets 3—5, grooved and usually ridged on the back; corymbs glabrous or tomentose; leaves thin or rarely subcoriaceous, oblong-ovate or oval, more or less acutely lobed; anthers rose or purple; rarely white in shrubby species.
- IX. Coccineæ (page 488).
- Fruit subglobose to short-oblong, crimson, or red tinged with green, its calyx enlarged and prominent; nutlets 5; stamens 20; anthers rose color; leaves thin, at the end of vigorous shoots as broad or broader than long.
- X. Dilatatæ (page 500).
- ++Leaves cuneate at base.
- Corymbs many-flowered; leaves subcoriaceous; fruit subglobose, rarely short-oblong; nutlets 2 or 3, obtuse at the ends, conspicuously ridged on the back; corymbs glabrous or tomentose; leaves dark green and lustrous above.
- XI. Rotundifoliæ (page 504).
- Corymbs few-flowered (many-flowered in one species of Bracteatæ).
- Fruit subglobose to short-oblong, greenish or yellowish; nutlets 3—5, usually rounded at the ends, conspicuously ridged on the back; leaves subcoriaceous, yellow-green.
- XII. Intricatæ (page 508).
- Fruit subglobose, red or orange-red; nutlets 3—5, slightly grooved on the back; stamens 20; anthers rose color; leaves thin, incisely lobed.
- XIII. Pulcherrimæ (page 511).
- Fruit subglobose to short-oblong, ½′—⅝′ long; nutlets 3—5, narrowed at the ends, prominently ridged on the back; corymbs villose; bracts large and conspicuous; calyx-lobes foliaceous; stamens 20; anthers yellow; leaves dark green, lustrous and scabrate above, their petioles sparingly glandular through their whole length.
- XIV. Bracteatæ (page 513).
- †Petioles long or short, leaves and corymbs glandular; corymbs usually simple, few-flowered; fruit subglobose to short-oblong or obovoid, green, orange, or red, flesh usually hard and dry; branchlets conspicuously zigzag.
- XV. Flavæ (page 515).
- **Veins of the leaves extending to the points of the lobes and to the sinuses; corymbs many-flowered; stamens usually 20.
- Fruit depressed-globose to short-oblong, not more than ¼′ long, scarlet; nutlets 2—5, prominently ridged and often grooved on the back; anthers rose color or yellow.
- XVI. Microcarpæ (page 530).
- Fruit subglobose, ⅓′—½′ in diameter, blue or blue-black; nutlets 3—5, obtuse at the ends, slightly ridged on the back; anthers yellow; leaves cuneate at base, dark green and lustrous.
- XVII. Brachyacanthæ (page 533).
- 2. Nutlets longitudinal cavities on their ventral faces; flowers in many flowered compound corymbs.
- Fruit obovoid to subglobose or short-oblong, lustrous, orange or scarlet; nutlets 2 or 3, obtuse at the ends, prominently ridged on the back; leaves thin to subcoriaceous, mostly pubescent below.
- XVIII. Macracanthæ (page 535).
- Fruit short-oblong to subglobose, black; rarely chestnut color; nutlets 5, obtuse at the ends, obscurely ridged on the back; stamens 10—20; anthers pale rose color.
- XIX. Douglasianæ (page 545).
- Fruit subglobose, short-oblong to ovoid, scarlet; nutlets 3—5, acute at the ends, ridged on the back, ventral cavities obscure; leaves scabrate above.
- XX. Anomalæ (page 547).
I. CRUS-GALLI.
CONSPECTUS OF THE ARBORESCENT SPECIES.
- Corymbs, leaves, and young branchlets slightly hairy while young, soon becoming glabrous (glabrous while young in 1, 4, 6, 9, and 13).
- Stamens 10.
- Anthers rose color or purple.
- Leaves glabrous, obovate-cuneiform, coriaceous, their veins within the parenchyma; fruit short-oblong to subglobose, dull red often covered with a glaucous bloom.
- 1. C. Crus-galli (A).
- Leaves oblong to ovate, usually acute, coriaceous; fruit short-oblong to subglobose, dark crimson, lustrous, the flesh red and juicy.
- 2. C. Canbyi (A).
- Leaves obovate, usually short-pointed at the broad apex, subcoriaceous; fruit short-oblong to obovoid, bright scarlet.
- 3. C. peoriensis (A).
- Leaves oblong-obovate to oval, or broadly ovate, their petioles glandular with minute stipitate glands; fruit short-oblong to subglobose, orange-red, villose until nearly fully grown.
- 4. C. fecunda (A).
- Anthers yellow.
- Leaves subcoriaceous.
- Leaves oval to elliptic, acute or acuminate; fruit short-oblong, green tinged with red.
- 5. C. regalis (C).
- Leaves glabrous, obovate, acute, acuminate, or rounded at apex; fruit short-oblong, dull dark crimson.
- 6. C. arduennæ (A).
- Leaves obovate to oblong-cuneiform, rounded or acute at apex; fruit subglobose to obovoid, dull red, or green flushed with red.
- 7. C. algens (A, C).
- Leaves broadly oval to oblong, rounded or acute or short-pointed at apex; fruit subglobose, dull green tinged with red or cherry-red.
- 8. C. Palmeri (C).
- Leaves thin.
- Leaves ovate to obovate, acute, dull green above; fruit subglobose, flattened at the ends, dark dull crimson.
- 9. C. erecta (A).
- Leaves oval to oblong-obovate, acute or acuminate, lustrous above; fruit short-oblong, rounded at the ends, bright scarlet.
- 10. C. acutifolia (A).
- Stamens 20.
- Anthers rose color.
- Leaves broad-obovate, coarsely serrate; corymbs many-flowered; anthers large, bright rose color; fruit green tinged with dull red.
- 11. C. Bushii (C).
- Leaves narrow-obovate, finely serrate; corymbs few-flowered; anthers small pale rose color; fruit crimson, lustrous.
- 12. C. Cocksii (C).
- Anthers yellow.
- Leaves oblong-obovate to oblanceolate; calyx-lobes slender, elongated.
- 13. C. arborea (C).
- Leaves oblong-obovate; calyx-lobes short and broad.
- 14. C. uniqua (C).
- Corymbs, leaves, and branchlets more or less villose or pubescent through the season.
- Stamens 10.
- Anthers rose color or pink.
- Leaves finely crenately serrate, scabrate above; anthers rose color.
- 15. C. Engelmannii (A).
- Leaves coarsely serrate with straight teeth, glabrous above; anthers pink.
- 16. C. montivaga (C).
- Anthers yellow (doubtful in 17 and 18).
- Leaves oval, oblong-obovate or elliptic, acute, thin to subcoriaceous; fruit globose to subglobose, orange-red.
- 17. C. denaria (C).
- Leaves obovate to obovate-cuneiform, rounded or acute at apex, thin; fruit short-oblong, dark red, more or less pruinose.
- 18. C. signata (C).
- Stamens 20.
- Anthers rose color.
- Leaves oblong-obovate, acute, scabrate; fruit short-oblong, dull green tinged with red, slightly pruinose.
- 19. C. edita (C).
- Leaves oblong to obovate-cuneiform, rounded and obtuse or occasionally acute at apex, glabrous or scabrate above; fruit globose to subglobose or short-oblong, dark red.
- 20. C. tersa (C).
- Anthers yellow.
- Leaves oblong-obovate, rounded or gradually narrowed at apex, subcoriaceous, pale below; fruit subglobose, orange color with a red cheek.
- 21. C. berberifolia (C).
- Leaves oblong or obovate-cuneiform, rounded and obtuse or rarely acute at apex, coriaceous, glabrate or slightly scabrate above; fruit subglobose, orange or yellow with a red cheek.
- 22. C. edura (C).
- Leaves oblong to obovate-cuneiform, rounded or acute at apex, subcoriaceous, glabrous or glabrate above, pale below; fruit ellipsoid to short-oblong, yellow.
- 23. C. crocina (C).
- Leaves oblong to obovate-cuneiform, rounded or obtuse or rarely truncate at apex, coriaceous, scabrate above; fruit globose to subglobose, bright red or scarlet.
- 24. C. fera (C).
- Leaves obovate, acute, thin to subcoriaceous; fruit subglobose to short-oblong, somewhat flattened at apex, bright orange-red.
- 25. C. Mohrii (C).
1. Cratægus Crus-galli L. Cock-spur Thorn.
Leaves glabrous, obovate, acute or rounded at apex, cuneate and gradually narrowed to the slender entire base, and sharply serrate above with minute appressed usually gland-tipped teeth, when they unfold tinged with red, membranaceous and nearly fully grown when the flowers open about the 1st of June, and at maturity thick and coriaceous, dark green and lustrous above, pale below, reticulate-venulose, 1′—4′ long, and ¼′—1′ wide, with a slender midrib, and primary veins within the parenchyma; turning bright orange and scarlet in the autumn before falling; petioles stout, ½′—¾′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots acute or acuminate, coarsely serrate, often 5′—6′ long. Flowers ⅔′ in diameter, on slender pedicels, in many-flowered glabrous corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, glabrous, the lobes linear-lanceolate, entire or minutely glandular-serrate; stamens 10; anthers rose color; styles usually 2, surrounded at base by tufts of pale hairs. Fruit ripening late in October and persistent on the branches until spring, short-oblong to subglobose, ½′ long, dull red often covered with a glaucous bloom; calyx little enlarged; nutlets usually 2, full and rounded at the ends, with a high rounded grooved ridge, ¼′ long.
A tree, sometimes 25° high, with a trunk a foot in diameter, covered with dark brown, scaly bark, stout rigid spreading branches forming a broad round-topped head, and glabrous, light brown or gray branchlets armed with stout straight or slightly curved sharp-pointed chestnut-brown or ashy gray spines 3′—4′ long and becoming on the trunk and large branches 6′—8′ in length and furnished with slender lateral spines.
Distribution. Usually on the slopes of low hills in rich soil; valley of the St. Lawrence River near Montreal, southward to Delaware and along the Appalachian foothills to North Carolina, and westward through western New York and Pennsylvania to southern Michigan.
A form, var. pyracanthifolia Ait., with narrower elliptic to obovate leaves acute or rounded at apex, and slightly pubescent while young on the upper side of the midrib, and with rather smaller flowers and smaller bright red fruit, is not rare in eastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware; a form, var. salicifolia Ait., cultivated in European gardens, but not known in a wild state, with thinner narrower and more elongated lanceolate or oblanceolate leaves, should also probably be referred to this species. A form, var. oblongata Sarg., with rather brighter colored oblong fruit often 1′ long, and nutlets acute at the ends, is not rare near Wilmington, Delaware, and at Durham, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. A form, var. capillata Sarg., with thinner leaves, slightly villose corymbs, and 1 or rarely 2 nutlets, occurs near Wilmington, Delaware.
Often cultivated as an ornamental plant and for hedges in the eastern United States, and very frequently in the countries of eastern and northern Europe.
2. Cratægus Canbyi Sarg.
Leaves oblong-ovate to ovate, obovate or oval, acute, acuminate or rarely rounded at apex, gradually narrowed, cuneate and entire at base, and coarsely often doubly serrate above the middle, more than half grown when the flowers open about the 1st of May and then glabrous or very rarely with a few scattered hairs on the upper side of the midrib and on the corymbs, and at maturity coriaceous, glabrous, dark green and very lustrous above, pale and dull below, 2′—2½′ long, and 1′—1½′ wide, with a thick pale midrib, and 4 or 5 pairs of remote primary veins conspicuous on the lower surface; petioles glandular with scattered dark red persistent glands, red below the middle, ½′—¾′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots often deeply and irregularly divided into broad acute lobes, and frequently 3′—4′ long and 2′ wide. Flowers ⅝′ in diameter, on long slender pedicels, in broad loose many-flowered long-branched corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, the lobes entire or serrate with minute scattered glandular teeth; stamens usually 10, occasionally 12 or 13; anthers, small, rose color; styles 3—5. Fruit ripening in October but persistent until after the beginning of winter, on elongated slender stems, in loose many-fruited drooping clusters, short-oblong to subglobose, rounded at the ends, with a distinct depression at the insertion of the stalk, lustrous, dark crimson, marked by occasional large pale dots, ½′—⅝′ long; calyx-lobes reflexed, closely appressed, often deciduous before the fruit ripens; flesh thick, bright red, very juicy; nutlets 3—5, with a broad rounded ridge, bright chestnut-brown, about ¼′ long.
A bushy tree, sometimes 20° high, with a trunk 12′—18′ in diameter, large ascending wide-spreading branches forming a broad open irregular head occasionally 30°—35° in diameter, and glabrous chestnut-brown branchlets armed with thick usually straight chestnut-brown spines ¾′—1½′ long.
Distribution. Hedges and thickets near Wilmington, Newcastle County, Delaware; shores of Chesapeake Bay (near Perryville, Cecil County), Maryland, and in eastern Pennsylvania.
3. Cratægus peoriensis Sarg.
Leaves obovate, short-pointed or occasionally rounded at the broad apex, gradually narrowed, cuneate and entire below, sharply and often doubly serrate usually only above the middle, and sometimes irregularly lobed with short broad terminal lobes, when they unfold villose above, especially toward the base of the midrib, and bright bronze color, becoming at maturity thick and firm, glabrous, dark green and very lustrous above, pale below, 1½′—2′ long, and ¾′ wide, with 4 or 5 pairs of thin primary veins conspicuous on the under side and extending obliquely from the slender midrib to the end of the lobes; petioles usually about ¼′ in length, slightly glandular above the middle, and covered when they first appear with short pale deciduous hairs; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots deeply divided into broad acute lateral lobes, 2′—3′ long, and 1½′ wide. Flowers opening in May and June, cup-shaped, about ½′ in diameter, on slender elongated pedicels, in broad loose glabrous corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, the lobes narrow acuminate, entire or irregularly glandular-serrate, pubescent below the middle on the inner surface; stamens 10; anthers small, rose color; styles 2 or 3, surrounded at base by a narrow ring of pale tomentum. Fruit ripening early in October, on slender elongated pedicels, in drooping many-fruited clusters, short-oblong or obovoid, rounded at the ends, slightly depressed at the insertion of the stalk, bright scarlet, marked by many small dark dots, ½′—¾′ long; calyx-lobes enlarged, erect, incurved and persistent; flesh thick, nearly white, firm and dry; nutlets 2 or 3, about ¼′ long.
A tree, 20°—25° high, with a trunk occasionally 1° in diameter, stout spreading branches forming a broad flat-topped symmetrical head, and slender orange-brown branchlets armed with straight or slightly curved thin dull chestnut-brown spines 2′—2½′ long.
Distribution. Open woods, the moist borders of streams and depressions in the prairie, and on hillsides in clay soil, Short and Peoria Counties, Illinois.
4. Cratægus fecunda Sarg.
Leaves oblong-obovate to oval, or broad-ovate, acute or rarely rounded and short-pointed at apex, gradually or abruptly narrowed at base, and coarsely and usually doubly serrate except toward the base, when they unfold dark green, lustrous and roughened above by short pale appressed caducous hairs and pale yellow-green and villose on the midrib and primary veins below, about half grown when the flowers open early in May and at maturity thin and firm in texture, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, pale yellow-green on the lower surface, 2′—2½′ long, and 1½′—2′ wide, with a stout midrib and remote primary veins after midsummer often bright red below; turning late in the autumn to brilliant shades of orange or scarlet or deep rich bronze color; petioles often glandular, at first coated with pale hairs, soon glabrous, dull red at maturity, ½′—¾′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots often slightly lobed with short broad acute lobes, convex by the hanging down of the margins, 3′—4′ long, and 2′—3′ wide. Flowers ¾′ in diameter, on slender pedicels, in wide many-flowered slightly villose corymbs, with large glandular bracts and bractlets; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, more or less villose, the lobes elongated, acute, coarsely serrate with stipitate dark red glands, villose on the inner surface; stamens usually 10, occasionally 12—15; anthers small, dark rose color; styles 2 or 3. Fruit on slender pedicels often ½′ long, in broad many-fruited drooping clusters, short-oblong to subglobose, full and rounded at the ends, covered until nearly fully grown with long soft pale hairs, and at maturity orange-red marked by many small dark dots, ⅞′—1′ long; calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate, erect and incurved, coarsely glandular-serrate above the middle, dark red on the upper side toward the base; flesh very thick, firm and hard, pale green; nutlets 2 or 3, ⅓′ long.
A tree, 20°—25° high, with a trunk 10′—12′ in diameter, covered with dark brown scaly bark, stout wide-spreading branches forming a broad symmetrical round-topped rather open head, and stout branchlets covered at first with soft matted pale hairs, soon glabrous, light orange-green, becoming ashy gray in their second season, and armed with numerous very slender straight or slightly curved chestnut-brown shining spines 2′—2½′ long.
Distribution. Rich woodlands near Allenton, St. Louis County, Missouri, and on the bottom-lands of the Mississippi River, St. Claire County, Illinois.
5. Cratægus regalis Beadl.
Leaves oval to elliptic, acute or acuminate at apex, gradually narrowed and concave-cuneate at the entire base, and coarsely, often doubly serrate above with acute straight or incurved teeth, when they unfold tinged with red and sparingly villose above and on the midrib below, soon glabrous, nearly fully grown when the flowers open at the end of April, becoming at maturity thick and firm or subcoriaceous, bright green and lustrous on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface, 1½′—2½′ long, and 1′—1¼′ wide, with a stout yellow midrib and primary veins; turning in the autumn yellow, orange, and brown; petioles stout, reddish brown toward the base, about 1′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots broadly oval, coarsely serrate, mostly slightly incisely lobed, 3′—4′ long, and 1½′—2′ wide, with a thicker midrib and veins. Flowers ½′ in diameter, on long slender pedicels, in broad many-flowered corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, the lobes linear-lanceolate, entire or remotely serrate; stamens 10; anthers yellow; styles 2 or 3. Fruit ripening in September or October, on slender stems, in few-fruited drooping clusters, short-oblong, ⅜′—½′ long, green tinged with red; calyx-lobes slightly enlarged, reflexed and often deciduous from the ripe fruit; flesh yellow, dry and mealy; nutlets 2 or 3, about ¼′ long.
A tree, often 20° high, with a tall trunk 8′—12′ in diameter, stout ascending or spreading branches forming a broad symmetrical head, and stout glabrous orange-brown branchlets armed with stout or slender nearly straight spines 1½′—2′ long.
Distribution. Low woods, northwestern Georgia and northern Alabama; common in the flat woods near Rome, Floyd County, Georgia.
6. Cratægus arduennæ Sarg.
Leaves obovate, acute, acuminate or rounded at apex, gradually narrowed from near the middle to the entire cuneate base, and finely crenulate-serrate above with glandular teeth, glabrous and deeply tinged with red as they unfold, nearly fully grown when the flowers open at the end of May or early in June, and at maturity subcoriaceous, dark green and very lustrous above, pale below, 1½′—2½′ long, and ½′—1′ wide, with a slender yellow midrib, and obscure primary veins mostly within the parenchyma; petioles stout, occasionally sparingly glandular, ¼′—⅝′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots mostly elliptic, short-pointed, coarsely serrate, usually laterally lobed, and often 2½′—3′ long, and 1½′—2′ wide, with a stout midrib and prominent slender primary veins. Flowers ½′—⅝′ in diameter, on long slender pedicels, in broad many-flowered glabrous corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, the lobes abruptly narrowed from the base, linear, acuminate, tipped with small dark red glands, entire or slightly and irregularly serrate; stamens 5—12; usually 10; anthers small, pale yellow; styles 1 or 2. Fruit on slender pedicels, in drooping many-fruited clusters, short-oblong, dull dark crimson, marked by large pale dots, about ½′ long, and ⅜′—½′ in diameter; calyx only slightly enlarged, the lobes reflexed and appressed; flesh thin and yellow; nutlet 1, gradually narrowed from the middle to the obtuse ends, grooved and irregularly ridged on the dorsal face, or 2 and then broad, rounded at the ends, with a high wide rounded ridge, about 5/16′ long.
A tree, sometimes 20° high, with a trunk 8′—12′ in diameter, covered with smooth light gray bark, spreading branches forming a round-topped head, and slender slightly zigzag branchlets light orange-green when they first appear, becoming dark purple and lustrous and ultimately grayish brown, and armed with many slender straight or slightly curved dark purple-brown shining spines 1′—2′ long.
Distribution. Central and northern Missouri, northern Illinois, northeastern Indiana (Allen County), southeastern Michigan, southern Ontario, through Ohio to western New York (South Buffalo, Erie County), and in eastern Pennsylvania (Berks County).
7. Cratægus algens Beadl.
Leaves obovate to oblong or elliptic, rounded or acute at apex, gradually narrowed and concave-cuneate at the entire base, sharply serrate above, villose on the upper side of the midrib and nearly full grown when the flowers open at the end of May, and at maturity glabrous, subcoriaceous, dark green and lustrous above, pale below, 1½′—2′ long, and ¾′—1¼′ wide, with a thin midrib and slender primary veins; turning in the autumn to shades of orange, yellow, and brown; petioles slender, rarely glandular with minute glands, about ¼′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots oblong-obovate, rounded or abruptly short-pointed at apex, coarsely serrate, and often 3′ long and 1½′ wide. Flowers ½′ in diameter, on slender elongated pedicels, in broad many-flowered glabrous corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, glabrous, the lobes slender, acuminate, entire or remotely serrate; stamens 10; anthers yellow; styles 1-3. Fruit ripening in September and October, on slender pedicels, in few-fruited hanging clusters, subglobose to obovoid, ⅜′—½′ in diameter, dull red, or green flushed with red, ⅜′—½′ long; calyx somewhat enlarged, with reflexed persistent lobes; nutlets usually 1 or 2, prominently ridged on the back, ¼′—⅜′ long.
A tree, 15°—18° high, with a short trunk occasionally 7′—8′ in diameter, stout ascending wide-spreading branches forming a wide round-topped head, and stout glabrous bright chestnut-brown branchlets becoming gray in their second year, and armed with stout nearly straight spines 1′—2′ long.
Distribution. Borders of woods and fields; western North Carolina to northern Georgia and central Alabama (near Selma, Dallas County, common), and to eastern Tennessee; one of the commonest species in the neighborhood of Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina.