Woodland hawthorn, aubépine épineuse, aubépine à deux styles

Mespilus laevigata Poiret in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 439. 1798; Crataegus oxyacanthoides Thuillier

Shrubs or trees, 80 dm. Stems: twigs: new growth sparsely villous or glabrous; thorns on twigs few to numerous, determinate or indeterminate, stout, 1 cm. Leaves: petiole slender, 0.8–2 cm, glabrous, eglandular; blade broadly elliptic to obovate, 1.4–5.8 cm, base cuneate, lobes 1 or 2 per side, sinuses ± shallow, lobe apex obtuse, margins serrate except proximally, veins 3–7 per side, apex obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, ± pilose along veins and in axils, adaxial ± lustrous dark green, pilose on veins. Inflorescences 3–11-flowered, lax; branches glabrous; bracteole margins irregularly denticulate, bearing few to numerous glands. Flowers 12–22 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous [to lanate]; sepals 1.5–2.5 mm, margins entire, apex acute; stamens 20, anthers purple; styles 2 or 3. Pomes bright red, orbicular or ± cylindric, 6–14 mm diam.; sepals recurved or spreading; pyrenes 2 or 3. 2n = 34.

Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Sep–Oct. Woodlands, scrub, hedges; 10–50 m; introduced; Wash.; Europe.

In the flora area, Crataegus laevigata is known only from the San Juan Islands; alleged wild records from elsewhere in North America proved to be misidentifications. The species is widespread in central Europe and scarce beyond that. Woodland hawthorn is more shade-tolerant than many other species, hence the common name.

Crataegus laevigata has more shallowly incised leaves and more obtuse lobes than other species in ser. Crataegus.

Pink- or red-petaled cultivated forms attributed to Crataegus laevigata are important ornamentals; they are usually cultivars of C. ×media Bechstein. Similar colored cultivars of true C. laevigata are scarce in North America.