=22. Crataegus Phænopyrum= (Linnæus fils) Medicus. Washington Thorn.
Scarlet Haw. (_Crataegus cordata_ Aiton). Plate 98. Bark grayish-brown,
scaly; spines numerous, slightly curved, 2-5 cm. (3/4-2 inches) long;
leaves ovate-triangular, 2-8 cm. (3/4-3 inches) long and wide, simply or
doubly serrate, often 3-5 lobed, acute at the apex, rounded to cordate
at the base, bright green above, glabrous; petioles slender, 1.5-5 cm.
(1/2-2 inches) long, glabrous; corymbs glabrous, many-flowered; flowers
appear in June, 8-12 mm. (1/3-1/2 inch) broad; stamens about 20; anthers
pink; styles and nutlets usually 5; calyx lobes deltoid, entire,
deciduous; fruit ripens in October or November, depressed-globose,
scarlet, 4-6 mm. (1/6-1/4 inch) thick, nutlets with a bare apex and
smooth back, flesh thin, firm.
=Distribution.=--Virginia to Georgia, Indiana to Arkansas. Moist rich
soil. Naturalized in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Possibly it may be
naturalized at the Indiana station. More knowledge of distribution in
southern Indiana is needed to settle this question.
A shrubby tree sometimes 9 m. (30 feet) high, with nearly erect branches
and an oblong crown.
Specimens have been seen from Wayne (Deam). It also occurs in the Wabash
Valley.
=Horticultural Uses.=--This is one of the most desirable thorns for
ornamental planting and hedges. Its scarlet autumn foliage and beautiful
little scarlet fruit persist for a long time. It is also one of the
American thorns long in cultivation, both in Europe and the United
States.
=Crataegus álbicans= Linnæus. This species was reported for Indiana by
Heimlich.[52]
The material at hand is not sufficient to make a satisfactory
determination, hence it is omitted in the text.
According to the treatment of the genus Crataegus in Britton and Brown's
Illustrated Flora, 2nd Edition, the range of the following species
extend into Indiana.