Hawthorn species

Description

Crataegus rhipidophylla is a species of hawthorn which occurs naturally from southern Scandinavia and the Baltic region to France, the Balkan Peninsula, Turkey, Caucasia, and Ukraine. It is poorly known as a landscape and garden plant, but seems to have potential for those uses. Compared to Crataegus monogyna, C. rhipidophylla has larger flowers, larger and more colourful fruits, and more decorative foliage. It has a more or less dome-shaped crown, and it is more tolerant of shade than C. monogyna. Crataegus rhipidophylla is a shrub or tree which can grow to 7 metres (23 ft) tall. Its stout thorns can be up to 1.5 cm long. Leaf blades are dark green, with 2-4 pairs of acute or subacuminate lobes. A helpful characteristic trait for identification is the finely serrated lobe margin. This can help distinguish C. rhipidophylla from C. monogyna which has irregularly serrated lobe margins, with more or less coarse teeth. The basal lobes of flowering shoots leaf blades each have 6-25 teeth. Their stipules also are serrate or serrate-denticulate. Inflorescences are corymbs, 3-4.5 cm long, of 5-15 lax white flowers.The hypanthium is 3–5 mm long. Sepals are more or less narrowly triangular, 1-2.6 times as long as wide. There are 14-20 stamens with purple anthers.Apart from the serrated leaf blade lobe margins, the number of styles or pyrenes is a second useful characteristic trait for identification. C. rhipidophylla has flowers with 1 style (fruit with 1 pyrene) - more rarely, and at the most, 2 styles or pyrenes. This is similar to C. monogyna but unlike C. laevigata which has 2 or 3 styles or pyrenes (sometimes 1, 4 or at most 5). Fruits are either bright or dark red, 8–15 mm long and 1.3-2 times as long as wide. Flowers are in bloom in May and June. Fruits can be seen from June to October. Crataegus rhipidophylla is a subatlantic species. It has a Eurasian native range, including southern Scandinavia and the Baltic region, France, the Balkan Peninsula, Asian Turkey, Caucasia, the Crimea, and Ukraine. It grows from sea level up to 1,800 m altitude. This species grows both on limestone and granitic or volcanic rocks. It is one of the few shade-tolerant hawthorn species, growing in shaded parts of continuous forests.