48. [Cratægus nitida] Sarg.
Leaves lanceolate to oblong-obovate, acuminate, abruptly or gradually narrowed and cuneate at the entire base, coarsely serrate above with straight or incurved glandular teeth, and often more or less divided into 2 or 3 pairs of broad acute lobes, dark red and slightly villose along the upper side of the midrib with scattered caducous hairs when they unfold, nearly fully grown when the flowers open early in May, and at maturity thick and coriaceous, dark green and very lustrous on the upper surface, pale and dull on the lower surface, 2′—3′ long, and 1′—1½′ wide, with a prominent midrib usually red on the lower side, and few thin prominent primary veins generally extending to the point of the lobes; turning in the autumn rich orange color through shades of bronze and orange-red; petioles stout, glandular, villose while young on the upper side, soon becoming glabrous, ½′—¾′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots more deeply lobed and frequently 5′ long and 2½′ wide. Flowers ¾′ in diameter, on long slender pedicels, in broad compound many-flowered glabrous corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, glabrous, the lobes slender, elongated, acuminate, entire or sparingly glandular-serrate; stamens 15—20; anthers pale yellow; styles 2—5. Fruit ripening at the end of October, on slender elongated pedicels, in many-fruited drooping clusters, short-oblong, full and rounded at the ends, pruinose with a glaucous bloom, marked by small dark dots, ½′—⅝′ long, and about ⅓′ in diameter; calyx only slightly enlarged, the lobes dark red at the base on the upper side, usually erect, often deciduous before the fruit ripens; nutlets 2—5, rounded and ridged on the back with a broad low rounded ridge, light-colored, ¼′ long.
A tree, often 30° high, with a tall straight trunk sometimes 18′ in diameter, covered with close dark bark broken into thick plate-like scales, stout spreading lower branches and erect upper branches forming a broad often irregular head, and slender glabrous branchlets bright orange-brown and lustrous during their first and second seasons, becoming pale reddish brown in their third year, and ultimately ashy gray, and unarmed or armed with occasional straight thin bright chestnut-brown lustrous spines 1′—1½′ long.
Distribution. Bottoms of the Mississippi River, St. Clair County, Illinois; common.
49. [Cratægus mitis] Sarg.
Leaves obovate to oval or rhombic, acute or rarely rounded at apex, gradually narrowed and concave-cuneate at the entire base, and coarsely serrate above with straight glandular teeth, nearly fully grown when the flowers open during the first week of May, and then light yellow-green above, paler below, and glabrous with the exception of a few short hairs on the upper side of the midrib, and at maturity subcoriaceous, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, pale yellow-green on the lower surface, 1½′—2½′ long, and 1′—1½′ wide, with a prominent midrib and slender primary veins; petioles stout, wing-margined at apex, occasionally glandular with minute glands, 1⅓′—1½′ in length. Flowers ½′—⅝′ in diameter, on long slender pedicels, in compact 8—15-flowered glabrous corymbs, with red glandular bracts and bractlets; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, glabrous, the lobes glabrous, abruptly narrowed from a broad base, acuminate, finely glandular-serrate below the middle with minute stipitate red glands; stamens 20; anthers yellow; styles 2—4, usually 3. Fruit ripening the middle of October, on slender pedicels, in many-fruited drooping clusters, subglobose to short-oblong, rounded at the ends, dark crimson, marked by occasional large dark dots, ½′—⅝′ long, about ½′ in diameter; calyx only slightly enlarged, the lobes serrate, closely appressed, often deciduous from the ripe fruit; flesh thick, pale orange color, and juicy; nutlets usually 3, thick, full and rounded at the ends, prominently ridged on the back, with a broad high rounded deeply grooved ridge, about ¼′ long.
A tree, 25°—30° high, with a tall trunk sometimes a foot in diameter, covered with dark scaly bark, large spreading branches forming a broad round-topped head, and glabrous branchlets dull light reddish brown during their first season, becoming dark brown or ashy gray, and armed with stout straight or slightly curved dull red-brown or purplish spines usually about 1½′ long.
Distribution. Low moist rich soil on the bottoms of the Mississippi River near the village of Kahokia, St. Clair County, Illinois.