Crataegus tomentosa L.

TSO logo

Sponsor

Kindly sponsored by
This genus has been sponsored and new text is being prepared.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Crataegus tomentosa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/crataegus/crataegus-tomentosa/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Synonyms

  • C. calpodendron (Ehrh.) Med.

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glandular
Bearing glands.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Crataegus tomentosa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/crataegus/crataegus-tomentosa/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

A small tree up to 15 ft high, with a rounded compact head of grey-barked branches, often very crooked; young shoots more or less downy; thorns infrequent, grey, 1 to 2 in. long. Leaves ovate to rhomboidal or obovate, pointed, wedge-shaped and entire at the base, the upper part coarsely double-toothed or lobed; 2 to 5 in. long, 112 to 3 in. wide; parallel-veined, downy on both sides, especially beneath, the upper side becoming nearly or quite glabrous and dark green; stalk 12 to 34 in. long. Flowers white, 58 in. diameter, borne in June in large, erect, loose corymbs 3 to 5 in. across; calyx and flower-stalk shaggy, calyx-lobes narrow, glandular-toothed; stamens sixteen to twenty, anthers pink; styles two to five. Fruits always erect, pear-shaped or oval, dull orange-coloured, 12 in. long.

Native of the eastern and central United States; introduced by Lee and Kennedy of Hammersmith in 1765. This is one of the most beautiful of American thorns when in flower, the upright corymbs being of unusual size. The leaves turn a brilliant orange or scarlet in autumn. Although on different plants the foliage varies in the amount of down it carries, the flower-stalks and calyx are always hairy.