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Thursday, 22 May 2014

Medlar/Hawthorn cross?

There is a shrub in woodland at Centre Vale Park, Todmorden which is rather puzzling. It has differing shaped leaves that vary between an elongated entire shape, to leaves with lobes of varying size that appear similar to a Midland Hawthorn but much larger.

The flowers are larger than a Hawthorn and not clustered. Some have 3 styles and some 2 (similar to a midland Hawthorn).

My own guess is the shrub is a natural cross between a Medlar and a Midland Hawthorn. In the books it is described as rare and is given the name xCrataemespilus grandiflora and was first found about 1800 growing wild in France.

If anyone can give any other thoughts on what it may be, I would love to hear.


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1 comment:

  1. Steve Blacksmith25 May 2014 at 11:51

    Nice find Philip. I've never been aware of that hybrid.
    The parks (and gardens) are a rich source of trees to confuse the beginner.
    As long as they get over the disappointment of not being able to positively identify everything in the park at first (first handful of years maybe), they will make progress.
    Being able to put things in a family is the first skill to learn.

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