Cratægus æstivalis Torr. & Gray in part, not Mespilus æstivalis Walt.
Leaves oblong-obovate, acute or rounded at apex, gradually narrowed, cuneate and entire at base, finely crenately glandular-serrate, and often slightly lobed above the middle; with short rounded lobes, covered above with soft pale hairs and whitish tomentose below when they unfold, and at maturity thick, dark green, lustrous and glabrous or slightly pubescent along the midrib on the upper surface, rufous-pubescent especially on the midrib and veins on the lower surface, 1½′—2′ long, and ¾′—1¼′ wide, rarely not more than 1′ long and ½′ wide; petioles slender, villose-pubescent with rufous hairs, occasionally glandular, ¼′—⅓′ in length; leaves at the ends of vigorous shoots oblong-obovate, rounded and short-pointed to elliptic and acuminate, laterally lobed, or deeply 3-lobed at apex, often 2½′ long and 1½′ wide. Flowers appearing from the 10th to the end of March, ¾′—1′ in diameter, in mostly 3—5-flowered clusters, on villose-pubescent pedicels about ⅓′ in length; calyx-tube broadly obconic, glabrous or villose-pubescent sometimes in the same cluster, the lobes gradually narrowed from a broad base, acuminate, entire or slightly glandular-serrate nearly to apex, glabrous or slightly pubescent on the outer surface; stamens 20; anthers dark rose color; styles 3—5, surrounded at base by a ring of white tomentum. Fruit ripening at the end of May, often solitary on glabrous erect pedicels ¼′—½′ long, subglobose, scarlet, lustrous, about ½′ in diameter, the calyx persistent with erect lobes; nutlets only slightly grooved on the back, about ¼′ long.
A tree, sometimes 30° high, with a tall trunk 8′—10′ in diameter, covered with rough deeply furrowed dark bark, paler and less deeply furrowed on smaller and younger stems, stout ascending and spreading branches forming a broad round-topped head, and slender slightly zigzag branchlets covered when they first appear with pale tomentum, glabrous or rusty tomentose until the early summer, becoming chestnut-brown, lustrous and glabrous before autumn and dull gray in their second year, and unarmed or armed with slender or stout straight spines ½′—1½′ in length.
Distribution. Depressions filled with water except at midsummer, sandy borders of ponds and streams and low wet prairies, Cottondale and Round Lake, Jackson County, and Quincy, Gadsden County, Florida; near Bainbridge, Decatur County, and Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia; near Dothan, Houston County, Alabama; pond holes along the Neuse River near Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina.
40. [Cratægus opaca] Hook.
Cratægus æstivalis Torr. & Gray in part, not Mespilus æstivalis Walt.
Leaves elliptic to oblong-cuneiform, gradually narrowed and acute or bluntly pointed at apex, cuneate at the often glandular base, finely crenately serrate above the middle with minute glandular teeth, pilose above and hoary-tomentose below when they unfold, and at maturity dull dark green and glabrous or slightly hairy on the midrib on the upper surface, pubescent on the lower surface with rusty brown hairs most abundant on the midrib and veins, 2′—2½′ long, and ½′—1′ wide; petioles slender, villose-pubescent, about ¼′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots elliptic to oblong-ovate, often irregularly laterally lobed, and 2½′—3′ long and wide. Flowers appearing in February and March before or with the unfolding of the leaves, 1′ in diameter, on glabrous pedicels ½′ long, in 3—5-flowered corymbs; calyx-tube broadly obconic, glabrous, the lobes narrowed from a wide base, short, nearly triangular, acute and tipped at apex with a conspicuous gland, entire or minutely serrate, glabrous, often deeply tinged with red; stamens 20; anthers large, deep rose color; styles 3—5, surrounded at base by a broad ring of pale tomentum. Fruit ripening early in May, in usually 2—3-fruited clusters, depressed-globose, scarlet, lustrous, dotted with pale spots, ½′—⅔′ in diameter, with a small narrow cavity surrounded by the erect calyx-lobes; nutlets 3—5, rounded at the ends, rounded and slightly grooved on the back, ¼′ long.
A tree, 20°—30° high, with a tall stem occasionally 1° in diameter, covered with deeply fissured bark, divided into dark red-brown persistent scales, slender mostly erect branches forming a narrow round-topped head, and slender branchlets villose-pubescent when they first appear, soon glabrous, lustrous and bright chestnut-brown during their first season, becoming dull gray in their second year, and armed with stout straight chestnut-brown spines ½′—1′ in length, or more often unarmed; occasionally with several stems forming a large shrub.