Genus Crataegus, L. (Thorn)

Leaves - simple; alternate (and in alternate bunches); edge unevenly sharp-toothed (with five to nine deep cuts almost forming small lobes). Outline - rounded egg-shape Apex - pointed Base - usually slightly pointed, but often blunt or slightly heart-shape. Leaf/Stem - slender and often with small wart-like glands. Leaf - usually one and a half to two and a half inches long, but of variable size on the same tree; thin; smooth; shining. Branchlets - greenish, or whitish and shining, as though washed with silver. Thorns - one to two inches long, stout, often whitish, usually slightly curved. Flowers - about two thirds of an inch across; white (often with a rosy tinge); twelve or so in a bunch; with a strong and rather disagreeable odor. May. Fruit - nearly one half inch in diameter; rounded or egg-shape; bright red; with thin pulp and one to five stones; somewhat edible. September Found - through the Atlantic forests southward to Northern Florida and Eastern Texas. General Information - A low tree (or often a bush), ten to twenty feet high, with crooked, spreading branches; very common at the North; rare in the South. From a Greek word meaning strength.

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