REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST I907 III 



Crataegus spinifera n. sp. 



Leaves ovate to obovate, acute or acuminate, gradually narrowed 

 and concave-cuneate at the entire base, and sharply often doubly 

 serrate above, with straight glandular teeth ; about one third grown 

 when the flowers open the ist of June and then very thin, dark 

 yellow-green and covered above by soft white hairs and pale and 

 villose below along the midribs and veins, and at maturity thin 

 but firm in texture, yellow-green, smooth and lustrous on the upper 

 surface, pale bluish green and still slightly villose on the lower 

 surface on the stout yellow midribs and slender primary veins, 

 5.5-7 cm long and 3.5-5 cm wide; petioles stout, narrow wing- 

 margined to below the middle, slightly hairy on the upper side while 

 young, soon becoming glabrous, 1-2 cm in length ; leaves on 

 vigorous shoots abruptly cuneate or rounded at the base, often 

 slightly lobed toward the apex, and frequently 7-8 cm long and 

 5-6 cm wide. Flowers about 1.5 cm in diameter, on slender villose 

 pedicels, in broad lax hairy mostly 20-30-flowered corymbs, the 

 elongated lower peduncles from the axils of upper leaves; calyx- 

 tube narrowly obconic, coated with long matted white hairs, the 

 lobes long, slender, glan'dular serrate, villose, reflexed after an- 

 thesis ; stamens 20 ; anthers pale pink ; styles 2-4. Fruit ripen- 

 ing the end of September, on long stout slightly hairy red drooping 

 pedicels, in broad many-fruited clusters, subglobose to slightly ovate, 

 scarlet, lustrous, sparingly hairy at the ends, marked by large pale 

 dots, becoming soft and succulent, 1-1.2 cm in diameter; calyx 

 little enlarged, with a deep narrow cavity, and small spreading and 

 appressed lobes hairy on the upper side ; flesh yellow, thin and dry ; 

 nutlets 2-4, slightly narrowed and rounded at the ends, ridged on 

 the back, with a broad low grooved ridge, irregularly penetrated 

 on the inner faces by broad deep cavities, 6-7 mm long, and 4-5 

 mm wide. 



A dense round-topped shrub 3-4 m high, with small intricately 

 branched stems spreading in thickets and covered with dark gray- 

 brown scaly bark, ascending flexuous greenish gray branches, and 

 slender slightly zigzag glabrous branchlets dark orange-green and 

 marked by pale lenticels when they first appear, becoming orange- 

 brown and lustrous in their first season and dull gray-brown the 

 following year, and armed with numerous stout nearly straight 

 purple shining spines 4-5 cm long. 



