44. [Cratægus glabriuscula] Sarg.
Leaves oblong-ovate to semiorbicular, acute or often short-pointed or rarely rounded at apex, gradually narrowed from below the middle to the slender entire base, coarsely and often doubly serrate usually only above the middle with broad straight gland-tipped teeth, and sometimes divided toward the apex into 2 or 3 short acute lobes, nearly fully grown when the flowers open the 1st of April, and then membranaceous and slightly pilose above with scattered hairs most abundant along the base of the midrib, and at maturity subcoriaceous, hard and firm, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface, 1½′—2′ long, and ¾′—1′ wide, with a thin light yellow midrib, and primary veins extending obliquely toward the end of the leaf, conspicuous secondary veins and reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, wing-margined, ⅓′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots often ovate, broadly cuneate at base, much more coarsely serrate, more frequently lobed, 2′—2½′ long and wide. Flowers about ½′ in diameter, on long slender pedicels, in few-flowered rather compact corymbs; calyx-tube broadly obconic, glabrous, the lobes short, gradually narrowed from a broad base, entire, villose on the inner surface; stamens 20, anthers nearly white; styles 5. Fruit ripening in September and often persistent until late into the winter, on long slender pedicels, in compact many-fruited drooping clusters, short-oblong to obovoid or nearly globose, dull orange color, marked by minute dark dots, about ¼′ long; calyx enlarged, conspicuous, with spreading or closely appressed lobes dull red on the upper side at base, often deciduous before the fruit ripens; flesh very thin, yellow, dry and hard; nutlets 5, rounded and sometimes obscurely grooved on the back, about 3/16′ long.
A tree, 20°—25° high, with a tall straight trunk often a foot in diameter, covered with thin dark brown scaly bark, long ascending branches forming a narrow head, and slender nearly straight branchlets, unarmed or armed with occasional slender straight chestnut-brown lustrous spines ¾′—1′ long.
Distribution. Bottom-lands of the Trinity River and its branches near Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, in forests of Elms and Nettle-trees.
45. [Cratægus blanda] Sarg.
Leaves oval to rhombic, acute or acuminate, and occasionally slightly lobed toward the apex, broadly cuneate or concave-cuneate at the entire base, coarsely crenately serrate above the middle with gland-tipped teeth, coated with soft pale hairs when they unfold, fully grown when the flowers open about the 1st of May, and then membranaceous, dark green and lustrous above and glabrous below with the exception of large axillary tufts of snow-white tomentum, and at maturity subcoriaceous, yellow-green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, 1½′—2′ long, and 1′—1⅓′ wide, with a slender midrib, and 2 or 3 pairs of thin primary veins extending obliquely toward the end of the leaf; petioles slender, at first villose along the upper side, soon becoming glabrous, ¾′—1′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots often broadly ovate, rounded at base, more deeply lobed above the middle, 2′—2½′ long, and 1½′—2′ wide. Flowers 1′ in diameter, on slender elongated pedicels, in broad many-flowered corymbs, with linear entire bracts and bractlets; calyx-tube broadly obconic, glabrous, the lobes gradually narrowed from a broad base, acuminate, entire or obscurely dentate, glabrous; stamens 20; anthers canary-yellow; styles 5. Fruit ripening about the middle of October, on slender pedicels, in many-fruited drooping clusters, subglobose to short-oblong, bright orange-red, ¼′ in diameter; calyx prominent, with spreading lobes usually deciduous from the ripe fruit; nutlets 5, thin, narrowed at the ends, deeply grooved on the back, ¼′ long.
An unarmed tree, 25°—30° high, with a tall trunk 10′—12′ in diameter, covered with dark brown or nearly black bark divided by shallow fissures and broken on the surface into small plate-like scales, stout ascending branches forming a broad irregular head, and nearly straight glabrous branchlets dark orange-green at first, becoming dull red-brown during their first season and darker brown the following year.
Distribution. Dry uplands and low rolling hills near Fulton, Hempstead County, Arkansas.