52. [Cratægus penita] Beadl.
Leaves broad-obovate, oval, or ovate, acute or acuminate at apex, broadly or acutely concave-cuneate at the entire base, sharply often doubly serrate above with glandular mostly straight teeth, and often slightly lobed above the middle, deeply tinged with red and covered with pale hairs when they unfold, nearly fully grown when the flowers open about the 1st of May and then smooth above, and glabrous below with the exception of axillary tufts of pale hairs, and at maturity subcoriaceous, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, 1¾′—2′ long, and 1′—1¾′ wide, with a prominent midrib and slender primary veins; turning orange, yellow, and brown in the autumn; petioles slender, covered while young like the upper side of the base of the midrib with pale deciduous hairs, ½′—¾′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots often rounded or subcordate at base, more or less deeply lobed, and 2½′—3′ long and broad, with a stout broadly winged glandular petiole. Flowers about ⅝′ in diameter, on elongated glabrous or sparingly hairy pedicels, in compact few-flowered nearly glabrous corymbs; calyx broadly obconic, glabrous, the lobes gradually narrowed from a broad base, slender, acuminate, entire, or furnished with occasional minute glandular teeth, slightly villose on the inner surface; stamens 20; anthers white faintly tinged with pink; styles 3—5. Fruit ripening in October, on elongated slender pedicels, in few-fruited drooping clusters, globose or depressed-globose, red, about ¼′ in diameter; calyx enlarged, with spreading or reflexed lobes villose on the upper side; nutlets 3—5, narrowed and acute at the ends, rounded and broadly grooved on the back, about ¼′ long.
A tree, 18°—20° high, with a short trunk sometimes 10′ in diameter, stout ascending or spreading branches forming a wide head, unarmed branchlets puberulous while young, soon glabrous, becoming light reddish brown.
Distribution. Low moist woods and the banks of streams; southeastern Tennessee.
53. [Cratægus micracantha] Sarg.
Leaves oblong-obovate to oval, acute, acuminate, or rarely rounded at apex, gradually or abruptly narrowed from above or from below the middle to the cuneate entire base, coarsely crenulate-serrate, and occasionally 3-lobed above with short broad acute lateral lobes, when they unfold villose on the upper and hoary-tomentose on the lower surface, more than half grown when the flowers open about the middle of May and then membranaceous and slightly villose above with short scattered pale hairs, and at maturity thin but firm in texture, dark yellow-green, lustrous and smooth above, paler and tomentose below on the slender midrib and 3 or 4 pairs of very obscure primary veins, 2′—2½′ long, and 1′—1¼′ wide; petioles slender, tomentose early in the season, becoming glabrous or pubescent, ½′—1′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots often broadly rhombic to obovate, acuminate, frequently deeply 3-lobed or divided into 2 or 3 pairs of short lateral lobes, usually 2½′—3′ long. Flowers cup-shaped, ¼′ in diameter, on long slender pedicels thickly coated with matted white hairs, in broad lax many-flowered compound hairy corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, villose, the lobes linear, acuminate, entire, slightly villose, tipped with minute dark glands; stamens usually 10, occasionally 12, 15, or 20; anthers small, deep bright red; styles 5. Fruit ripening the middle of October, on slender pubescent pedicels, in drooping many-fruited clusters, subglobose to short-oblong, full and rounded at the ends, bright orange-red, lustrous, marked by occasional large pale dots, about ¼′ long; calyx prominent, with a short villose tube, and spreading erect hairy lobes often deciduous from the ripe fruit; nutlets 5, thin, acute at the narrow ends, rounded and sometimes slightly grooved on the back, about 3/16′ long.
An unarmed tree, sometimes 25° high, with a tall trunk 8′—12′ in diameter, covered with light or dark brown bark separating freely into thin narrow scales, stout spreading branches forming a broad flat-topped handsome head, and slender nearly straight branchlets coated until after the flowering time with thick hoary tomentum, bright red-brown and puberulous during their first season, becoming light or dark dull reddish brown the following year.
Distribution. Common in low woods in rich moist soil near Fulton, Hempstead County, Arkansas.