Black-fruited Hawthorns

I have blogged previously about some of the more unusual hawthorns gradually filling up our countryside, and I always like to keep my eyes open at this time of year for anything that might be different. Some recent finds are still defeating a name.

Last Sunday I was caught a little by surprise when I looked up into a hedgerow near Skelton Lake (VC64) and saw a lot of large black fruit dangling down. These were very succulent, with red-tinged flesh under the skin. Further examination revealed 3 pyrenes per fruit. So instantly my brain was thinking, and regardless of the common name, Five-seeded Hawthorn (Crataegus pentagyna). This species has 3 to 5 pyrenes. This identification was later confirmed at home using a combination of Sell & Murrell and the monograph by Christensen. If I'm honest the latter seems to be a little more user-friendly, and perhaps more representative of the variation present in this genus of notoriously variable species. But both are useful, and its nice to be able to compare and contrast.

Further on I found another bush with comparable fruit but very different foliage. I initially thought it was a hybrid, but it just seems to be a variant of the species (most hawthorn species being highly variable).