XII. INTRICATÆ.
CONSPECTUS OF THE ARBORESCENT SPECIES.
Stamens 10; leaves broad-ovate to oval. Fruit depressed-globose, yellow-green flushed with russet-red; anthers pale yellow; calyx-lobes eglandular.112. [C. Boyntonii] (A, C). Fruit subglobose, red or russet-red; anthers pale rose color; calyx-lobes glandular with stalked glands.113. [C. Buckleyi] (A). Stamens 20. Leaves oval to ovate or oblong-obovate; fruit short-oblong, dull red, often with a bright russet face; stamens usually 5—15; anthers small, pale yellow.114. [C. venusta] (C). Leaves oblong-ovate to elliptic or ovate; fruit subglobose to short-oblong, yellow or orange-yellow, more or less flushed with red; anthers large, purple.115. [C. Sargentii] (C).
112. [Cratægus Boyntonii] Beadl.
Leaves broad-ovate to oval, acute, rounded or cuneate at the entire glandular base, sharply and often doubly serrate above with glandular teeth, and frequently divided into 2 or 3 pairs of short broad acute lateral lobes, when they unfold deep bronze-red, slightly glandular and viscid, nearly fully grown when the flowers open early in May, and then membranaceous and glabrous or occasionally slightly pilose, and at maturity subcoriaceous, glabrous, yellow-green on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface, 1′—2½′ long, and 1′—2′ wide, with a thin pale yellow midrib and 4—7 pairs of slender veins; petioles stout, glandular often to the base with bright red glands, slightly winged above, usually about ½′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots often as broad as long, truncate or cordate at base, and more coarsely dentate and more deeply lobed. Flowers about ¾′ in diameter, on short slender pedicels, in compact 4—10-flowered compound corymbs; calyx-tube broadly obconic, the lobes abruptly narrowed from a broad base, acute or rounded at apex, entire or obscurely and irregularly glandular-serrate above the middle; stamens 10; anthers large, pale yellow; styles 3—5, surrounded at base by a broad thick ring of hoary tomentum. Fruit ripening and falling early in October, on short stout pedicels, in few-fruited erect clusters, depressed-globose, more or less angled, yellow-green flushed with russet-red, marked with small dark dots, usually about ½′ in diameter; calyx prominent, the large spreading lobes often deciduous before the fruit ripens; nutlets 3—5, acute or acuminate at apex, rounded at the narrow base, about ¼′ long.
A tree, occasionally 20° high, with a tall straight trunk 6′—8′ in diameter, sometimes armed with long gray compound spines, stout ascending branches forming a narrow open irregular or occasionally a round-topped head, and glabrous branchlets furnished with many thin nearly straight light chestnut-brown spines 1½′—2′ long; or more often a shrub, with numerous stems.
Distribution. Banks of streams, the borders of fields and upland woods in the southern Appalachian foothill region from southern Virginia to northern Georgia; in northern Alabama, southeastern Kentucky, and eastern Tennessee; sometimes ascending to altitudes of 3000° above the sea.
113. [Cratægus Buckleyi] Beadl.
Leaves broad-ovate or oval, acute, rounded or subcordate or narrowed and concave-cuneate at the entire base, coarsely often doubly serrate above with straight glandular teeth, and more or less incisely lobed with acuminate lateral lobes, more than half grown when the flowers open about the middle of May and then pale green and glabrous with the exception of a few caducous hairs on the upper side of the base of the midrib, and at maturity dark green above, paler below, 1½′—2′ long, and 1½′—2′ wide; petioles stout, conspicuously glandular above the base, wing-margined at the apex, glabrous, ½′—¾′ in length. Flowers about ¾′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels, in compact 3—7-flowered simple corymbs, with conspicuously glandular bracts and bractlets; calyx-tube broadly obconic, glabrous, the lobes broad, acuminate, laciniately cut toward the apex, and glandular with stipitate glands; stamens 10; anthers pale rose color; styles 3—5, surrounded at base by tufts of pale hairs. Fruit ripening late in September or in October, subglobose, usually angled, red or russet-red, about ½′ in diameter; calyx little enlarged, with spreading or reflexed lobes; flesh thin, dry and mealy; nutlets 3—5, broad and rounded at base, rounded at the slightly narrowed apex, prominently ridged on the back, with a broad grooved ridge, about 5/16′ long.
A tree, often 25° high, with a trunk 4′—7′ in diameter and sometimes 10°—12° long, covered with gray or often dark brown scaly bark, stout spreading or ascending branches, and thick glabrous red-brown branchlets armed with thin straight shining spines ½′ long, becoming much longer and branched on the trunk and large branches.
Distribution. Southwestern Virginia, through western North Carolina to eastern Tennessee; usually at altitudes between 2000° and 3000°; common on wooded slopes with Oaks, Hickories, and Pines.
114. [Cratægus venusta] Beadl.
Leaves oval to ovate or occasionally to oblong-ovate, acute, gradually or abruptly narrowed and cuneate or rounded at the entire base, finely serrate above with usually incurved glandular teeth, and frequently slightly and irregularly divided above the middle into 1—3 pairs of short broad acute lobes, when they unfold dark bronze color, with a few scattered pale caducous hairs on the upper surface, about half grown when the flowers open from the 20th to the end of April, and then yellow-green, smooth and glabrous, and at maturity dark dull green above, pale below, 2½′ long, and 1½′ wide, with a stout midrib and 4—7 pairs of thin primary veins; late in the autumn turning, especially those on leading shoots deep orange or scarlet; petioles stout, glandular, more or less winged above, ½′—¾′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots generally broad-ovate, rounded at base, deeply lobed with broad lobes, and often 3½′ long and 3′ wide. Flowers 1′ in diameter, on short pedicels, in 4—9-flowered compact corymbs, their bracts and bractlets like the inner bud-scales coarsely glandular-serrate and bright red before falling; calyx-tube broadly obconic, the lobes gradually narrowed from a broad base, acute, coarsely glandular-serrate often only below the middle; stamens 15—20, usually 15—17; anthers small, pale yellow; styles 3—5, surrounded at the base by a ring of pale hairs. Fruit ripening and falling from the 1st to the middle of October, on stout pedicels often 1′ long, in few-fruited clusters, short-oblong, rounded at the ends, dull red, often with a bright russet face, and marked by occasional large dark dots; calyx prominent, with a long tube, and spreading lobes often deciduous before the fruit ripens; flesh thick, yellow, dry and mealy; nutlets 3—5, narrow and acute at base, broad, about ¼′ long.
A bushy tree, often 25° high, with a short trunk a foot in diameter, furnished like the large branches with innumerable stout much-branched spines frequently 6′ long, and slender nearly straight glabrous dark chestnut-brown branchlets, armed with many stout straight or slightly curved dark chestnut-brown shining spines frequently pointing toward the base of the branch, and 1½′—2½′ long.
Distribution. Open Oak and Hickory-woods on the dry slopes of Red Mountain in the southern part of the city of Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama.
115. [Cratægus Sargentii] Beadl.
Leaves oblong-ovate to elliptic or rarely to ovate, acute or acuminate at apex, gradually or abruptly cuneate or rounded at the nearly entire base, irregularly doubly serrate above with straight or incurved glandular teeth, and usually irregularly divided into 3 or 4 pairs of short broad acute or acuminate lobes, nearly fully grown when the flowers open late in April, and then subcoriaceous, pale yellow-green, and villose on the midrib with scattered pale caducous hairs, and at maturity lustrous, dark yellow-green above, pale below, 2′—3′ long, and 1½′—2′ wide, with a thin midrib, 5—7 pairs of thin light yellow veins and conspicuous reticulate veinlets; turning in the autumn bright yellow and red; petioles slender, glandular, more or less broadly winged toward the apex, ½′—¾′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots oblong-ovate, concave-cuneate at base, often 3′ long and 2′ wide, their petioles broadly wing-margined to below the middle. Flowers nearly 1′ in diameter, on long thin slightly villose pedicels, in 2—5 usually 3-flowered simple corymbs, with coarsely glandular-serrate bracts and bractlets; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, glabrous or slightly villose, the lobes foliaceous, acute, coarsely glandular-serrate above the middle; stamens 20; anthers large, dark rose color; styles 3—5, usually 4, surrounded at base by a narrow ring of pale hairs. Fruit ripening and falling about the middle of September, often only a single fruit maturing from a flower-cluster, subglobose to short-oblong, rounded at the ends, yellow or orange-yellow, generally more or less flushed with red, marked by occasional large dark dots, ⅓′—½′ long; calyx prominent, with an elongated tube and closely appressed lobes; flesh yellow, thin and hard; nutlets 3—5, usually 4, about ¼′ long.
An intricately branched tree, rarely more than 20° high, with a tall trunk 6′—7′ in diameter, stout ascending branches forming a narrow or sometimes a round flat-topped head, and glabrous branchlets armed with thin straight or slightly curved dark chestnut-brown shining spines, ¾′—1½′ long; often a large shrub, with few or many stems.
Distribution. Rocky woods and bluffs in the foothill region of northwestern Georgia (cliffs of the Coosa River near Rome, Floyd County), southeastern Tennessee (near Chattanooga, Hamilton County, and Tracy City, Grundy County), and northeastern Alabama; very abundant in Alabama at Valley Head, De Kalb County, and on the low ridges extending southward to the neighborhood of Birmingham, Jefferson County.