Crataegus macracantha Loud.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Crataegus macracantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/crataegus/crataegus-macracantha/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Glossary

apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glandular
Bearing glands.
globose
globularSpherical or globe-shaped.
midrib
midveinCentral and principal vein in a leaf.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Crataegus macracantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/crataegus/crataegus-macracantha/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

A tree up to 15 ft or more high, and perhaps the most formidably armed of all thorns, the spines being sometimes 4 or 5 in. long, and very abundant; young shoots reddish brown, glabrous. Leaves roundish oval or obovate, 2 to 4 in. long, 112 to 3 in. wide; tapered more or less at the base, pointed at the apex, the upper part usually more or less lobed; sharply toothed; dark green, leathery, glabrous above except when young; remaining downy beneath, although finally only on the parallel veins (of which there are six or seven pairs) and the midrib; stalk 14 to 34 in. long. Flowers white, 34 in. across, produced in May and June in corymbs 2 or 3 in. wide; flower-stalk either downy or not; calyx-lobes narrow, downy inside, glandular-toothed; stamens eight to ten, anthers yellow. Fruit globose, bright crimson, 13 to 12 in. diameter.

Native of eastern N. America; introduced in 1819. It is one of the most remarkable of all thorns in the extraordinary number and size of its thorns, even larger than in C. crus-galli. It is also one of the handsomest in fruit, a good grower, and very hardy. It differs from both C. tomentosa and C. succulenta in having not more than ten stamens, and yellow anthers. All three species are characterised by a longitudinal cavity on the inner side of the nutlets.