Images: ©Jouko Lehmuskallio
Crataegus grayana
- Family: Rose Family – Rosaceae
- Growing form and height: Shrub or small tree. 2–5 m (7–16 ft.)
- Flower: Regular (actinomorphic), 15–18 mm (0.6–0.7 in.) across. Calyx-lobes 5, long, linear to narrowly elliptic. Petals 5, white. Stamens 20, anthers reddish. Pistil formed from 5 fused carpels. Inflorescence a corymb, flower-stalks downy.
- Leaves: Alternate on annual shoot. Stalked, hairy at first, later hairy only along the veins. Blade 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in.) long, ovate to elliptic, doubly serrate to shallowly incised.
- Fruit: A globose to barrel-shaped red drupe.
- Habitat: An ornamental. Often remaining in old gardens, sometimes an escape.
- Flowering time: June.
The hawthorns (Crataegus spp.) are a large and diverse genus. Especially the North American species are taxonomically difficult. Almost all species used as ornamentals belong to this group. The genus is also very old. In North America, fossils from the Cretaceous (140–170 mill. years ago) have been found. C. grayana, a common ornamental in Finland, also originates in North America. It is a very variable, thorny shrub or small tree. The berries are edible, but the hard seed has to be removed.
