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Southern Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Washington Hawthorn
Crataegus phaenopyrum (L. f.) Medik

JPG -- Species Photo GIF -- Distribution Map

Family: Rose (Rosaceae)
Flowering: May-June
Field Marks: This hawthorn can be distinguished from most others by its ovate, usually 3-lobed leaves and its flowers not more than 3/4 inch across.
Habitat: Thickets, open woods.
Habit: Tree up to 35 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 12 inches; crown broadly rounded.
Bark: Brownish gray, soon becoming scaly.
Twigs: Usually gray, slender, bearing sharp thorns.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, ovate, pointed at the tip, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, often 3-lobed, toothed, usually smooth, dark green and shiny on the upper surface, up to 3 inches long.
Flowers: Several in a cluster, each flower up to 3/4 inch across.
Sepals: 5, green, pointed, united below.
Petals: 5, white, free from each other.
Stamens: About 20, with yellow anthers.
Pistils: Ovary inferior.
Fruits: Spherical or nearly so, red, up to 1/4 inch in diameter, containing 3-5 nutlets.
Notes: The bright red fruits make this hawthorn an attractive ornamental.

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Next Species -- Green Hawthorn (Crataegus viridis)

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Menlo Park, CA [caww54]