C. Pyracántha, Pers. (Evergreen Thorn.) Leaves evergreen, shining (1´ long), oblong or spatulate-lanceolate, crenulate; the short petioles and young branchlets pubescent; corymbs small.—Shrub, spontaneous near Washington and Philadelphia. (Adv. from Eu.)
1. C. spathulàta, Michx. Shrub or tree, 10–25° high; leaves thickish, shining, deciduous, spatulate or oblanceolate, with a long tapering base, crenate above, rarely cut-lobed, nearly sessile.—Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.
2. C. cordàta, Ait. (Washington Thorn.) Trunk 15–25° high; leaves broadly ovate or triangular, mostly truncate or a little heart-shaped at the base, on a slender petiole, variously 3–5-cleft or cut, serrate.—Va. to Ga. in the mountains, west to Mo.
3. C. víridis, L. A small tree, often unarmed; leaves ovate to ovate-oblong or lanceolate, or oblong-obovate, mostly acute at both ends, on slender petioles, acutely serrate, often somewhat lobed, and often downy in the axils; flowers larger, numerous; fruit bright red or rarely orange. (C. arborescens, Ell.)—Mississippi bottoms from St. Louis to the Gulf, and from S. Car. to Tex.
[+][+] Fruit small (¼–{1/3}´ long), ovoid, deep red; flowers rather large; styles 1–3.
C. Oxyacántha, L. (English Hawthorn.) Smooth; leaves obovate, cut-lobed and toothed, wedge-form at the base; calyx not glandular. More or less spontaneous as well as cultivated. (Adv. from Eu.)
4. C. apiifòlia, Michx. Softly pubescent when young; leaves roundish, with a broad truncate or slightly heart-shaped base, pinnately 5–7-cleft, the crowded divisions cut-lobed and sharply serrate; petioles slender; calyx-lobes glandular-toothed, slender.—S. Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.
[+][+][+] Fruit large (½–1´ long), red; flowers large; styles and stones even in the same species 1–3 (when the fruit is ovoid or pear-shaped) or 4–5 (in globular fruit); stipules, calyx-teeth, bracts, etc., often beset with glands; shrubs or low trees. [Species as characterized by Prof. C. S. Sargent.]
5. C. coccínea, L. Branches reddish; spines stout, chestnut-brown; villous-pubescent on the shoots, glandular peduncles, and calyx; leaves on slender petioles, thin, pubescent beneath or often glabrous, round-ovate, cuneate or subcordate at base, acutely glandular-toothed, sometimes cut-lobed; flowers ½´ broad; fruit coral-red, globose or obovate, ½´ broad.—Newf. to Minn. and southward.—Var. macracántha, Dudley; spines longer; leaves thicker, cuneate at base, on stout petioles, often deeply incised; cymes broader; flowers and fruit rather larger.—From the St. Lawrence and E. Mass. to Minn.
Var. móllis, Torr. & Gray. Shoots densely pubescent; leaves large, slender-petioled, cuneate, truncate or cordate at base, usually with acute narrow lobes, often subscabrous above, more or less densely pubescent beneath; flowers 1´ broad, in broad cymes; fruit bright scarlet with a light bloom, 1´ broad. (C. tomentosa, var. mollis, Gray. C. subvillosa, Schrad.)—E. Mass, to Mo. and Tex. Sometimes 20–30° high, blooming two weeks before the type.