Relatives

Crataegus sanguinea Pall. - Redhaw hawthorn.

Taxonomic position.

Family Rosaceae Juss., genus Crataegus L.

Synonyms.

Crataegus altaica (Loud.) Lange, C. korolkovii L. Henry

Morphology and biology.

Tall shrub, less frequently small tree, 1-4 (6) m tall, with hard, purple-brown shoots, usually with thick, straight thorns 2.5-4.0 cm long. Leaves have 1-5 pairs of short, sharp lobes, ovate and broadly rhombic in shape to obovate with a cuneate base, serrated, dull from above. Flowers are set in dense corymbs on the ends of short, leafy twigs. Corollas are white. Stamens have purple or white anthers. Fruit have 3-4 kernels and mealy edible pulp; they vary in color from yellow and orange to dark red.
Blossoms in mid-May; bears fruit in early September. 2n=16.

Distribution.

Natural habitat includes Eastern European Russia, southern Siberia, Kazakhstan (Semipalatinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan, and Northern Kazakhstan Provinces), Northern Mongolia, and Northern China. Wild forms occur in the Leningrad, Pskov, Moscow, Vladimir and Tver Provinces.

Ecology.

Mesoxerophyte. Relatively shade-tolerant. Resistant to salt and air pollution. Grows in the forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones, in thin dry forests, at forest edges and glades, and in flood-beds. Prefers sandy and pebbly alluvial soils.

Utilization and economic value.

Used for food (fruit). Nectariferous, medicinal and ornamental plant. This hawthorn species is one of the most widespread and was domesticated long ago. Most frequently grown for green hedges and shelterbelts. Was used for experimental breeding as a pollinator of the female plant Sorbus aucuparia, which resulted in the mountain ash cultivar .Granatnaya..

Reference citations:

Brezhnev D.D., Korovina O.N. 1981. Wild relatives of cultivated plants in the USSR flora. Leningrad: Kolos. 170-171 p.
Koropachinskiy I.Yu., Vstovskaya T.N. 2002. Woody plants of the Asian part of Russia. Novosibirsk: Publishing House of SB RAS, Branch "Geo". 321 p.
Malyshev, L.I. & G.A. Peshkova, ed. 1979. Flora of Siberia. Rosaceae. Novosibirsk: Nauka. V. 8: 27-28.
Tchikov P.S., ed. 1983. Atlas of areas and resources of medicinal plants of USSR. Moscow: State Geodesy and Cartography Publisher. 208 p.

© Chuhina I.G.

Copyright on the picture belongs to I.Yu. Koropachinskiy and T.N. Vstovskaya (picture was published in "Woody plants of the Asian part of Russia")