Distribution. Rich bottom-lands, Texas coast region; valley of the lower Brazos River to those of the Navidad (Canardo, Jackson County), Guadalupe (Victoria, Victoria County), and Cibolo (Sutherland Springs, Wilson County).
83. [Cratægus quercina] Ashe.
Leaves elliptic to obovate, usually acute or occasionally rounded at apex, obtusely or acutely cuneate at the entire base, irregularly doubly serrate above with slender glandular teeth, and often divided above the midrib into narrow acuminate lobes, when they unfold conspicuously plicate, often dark red and coated above with long soft pale hairs and covered below with a thick coat of silvery white shining tomentum, about a third grown when the flowers open from the middle to the end of March, and at maturity thin but firm in texture, dark green, lustrous and scabrate above, pale and pubescent or tomentose below, and 2′—2½′ long and wide, with a slender midrib, 4 or 5 pairs of thin primary veins, and conspicuous reticulate veinlets; petioles stout, tomentose, about ½′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots broad-ovate, rounded or obtusely cuneate at the wide base, usually deeply divided into numerous acuminate lateral lobes, often 3′ long and 2½′ wide. Flowers ¾′ in diameter, on long slender tomentose pedicels, in broad many-flowered lax hoary-tomentose corymbs, with oblong-obovate glandular-serrate villose bracts and bractlets; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, hoary-tomentose, the lobes short, acute, coarsely glandular-serrate, tomentose; stamens 20; anthers small, dark red; styles 5, surrounded at base by tufts of long snow-white hairs. Fruit ripening after the middle of October, on slender nearly glabrous pedicels, in few-fruited tomentose spreading clusters, subglobose but often rather longer than broad, rounded at the ends, tomentose until nearly fully grown, glabrous at maturity, dark red, marked by numerous large pale dots, about ½′ in diameter; calyx prominent, with short spreading often deciduous lobes; flesh thin, light yellow, hard and dry, generally shrivelling before the fruit falls; nutlets 5, rounded and ridged on the back, about ¼′ long.
A tree, remarkable for the lustre of its white tomentum, occasionally 25° high, with a tall trunk 6′—8′ in diameter, covered with light gray scaly bark, becoming near the base of old trees deeply furrowed and nearly black, ascending branches forming a broad symmetrical head, and branchlets coated when they first appear with hoary tomentum, becoming light red-brown and more or less villose during their first season, glabrous and rather darker in their second year, and armed with numerous straight or slightly curved chestnut-brown shining spines usually 1′—1¼′ long.
Distribution. Sandy bottom-lands in open Live Oak-forests on the Brazos River, near Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas.
84. [Cratægus pyriformis] Britt.
Leaves oval to broad-ovate, acute and often short-pointed at apex, gradually narrowed and concave-cuneate at the entire base, sharply and sometimes doubly serrate above with straight glandular teeth, and often slightly and irregularly lobed above the middle, fully grown when the flowers open about the 10th of May and then thin, light yellow-green, roughened above by short rigid pale hairs and pubescent below, particularly on the slender midrib and 5 or 6 pairs of remote primary veins, and at maturity thin and firm, lustrous and scabrate on the upper surface, pale and pubescent on the lower surface, and generally about 3′ long and 2′ wide; petioles slender, winged at apex, tomentose, ultimately pubescent, 1′—1¼′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots usually ovate, coarsely serrate, more deeply lobed, and frequently 4′—5′ long and 3′—4′ wide. Flowers 1′ in diameter, on long slender tomentose pedicels, in broad many-flowered lax corymbs; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, villose, the lobes narrow, acuminate, glandular-serrate, and covered more or less thickly with pale hairs; stamens 20; anthers pale rose color; styles 4 or 5, usually 5, surrounded at base by a broad ring of pale tomentum. Fruit ripening in October, on long slender pubescent pedicels, in drooping few-fruited clusters, obovoid, rounded at the ends, bright cherry-red, lustrous, marked by occasional large pale dots, about ⅝′ long and ½′ in diameter; calyx prominent, with linear glandular-serrate closely appressed lobes often deciduous before the fruit ripens; flesh thin, light yellow, juicy; nutlets 4 or usually 5, rounded, and deeply grooved on the back, dark brown, ⅝′ long.
A tree, 25°—30° high, with a trunk a foot in diameter, spreading branches forming a broad symmetrical head, and slender branchlets light green and villose when they first appear with long matted pale hairs, dull red-brown and pubescent in their first season, becoming glabrous the following year, and armed with occasional thin nearly straight bright chestnut-brown shining spines usually about 1½′ long.