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Crataegus douglasii Lindl.

Modern name

Crataegus douglasii Lindl.

Synonyms

C. rivularis Nutt.

A tree 30 ft or more high, with a rounded head of branches; young shoots reddish brown, glabrous; thorns often absent; when present, 34 to 1 in. long, stout. Leaves obovate to ovate, always tapered at the base, mostly pointed, sometimes rounded at the apex, upper part slightly lobed or double-toothed, or sometimes with two deep lobes near the base; 112 to 4 in. long, 1 to 3 in. wide; dark glossy green and downy along the midrib above, ultimately quite glabrous below; stalk 12 to 34 in. long. Flowers white, 12 in. diameter, produced during May in corymbs 2 in. across; calyx-tube and flower-stalk quite glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, glandular-toothed or entire, downy inside; stamens twenty; styles two to five. Fruit black, 13 in. diameter, falling early.

Native of N. America from Michigan to California and Oregon; introduced about 1828. It is one of the largest, but not, so far as I have seen, one of the most ornamental of thorns, its corymbs being rather small and its fruits ineffective.



From the Supplement (Vol. V)

C. rivularis Nutt., given as a synonym, is treated as a variety by some botanists – C. douglasii var. rivularis (Nutt.) Sarg. It is mainly a native of the Rocky Mountains, differing from the more coastal, typical variety in its longer thorns and its longer, relatively narrow leaf-blades.

The only other species of Crataegus in the Pacific north-west of America is C. columbiana Howell, a shrub or small tree with straight or slightly curved thorns up to almost 3 in. long and ovate to obovate, usually doubly serrated, unlobed leaves, permanently downy on both sides and 1 to 212 in. long. Receptacle clad with curled hairs or greyish wool. Petals white, about 38 in. long. Stamens ten. Styles woolly. Fruits dark red, ovoid, about 38 in. long. The oldest example at Kew is from seeds received in 1955, and there are others planted later, raised from wild-collected seed received from the botanic gardens of the Universities of Washington, USA, and of British Columbia.

Genus

Crataegus

Other species in the genus