Crataegus monogyna Jacq.
C. oxyacantha L. nom. amb., C. brevispina Kunze, C. maura L.f.
Eng.: Hawthorn. Spa.: Majuelo, espino albar. Fre.: Aubépine, épine blanche. Ara.: Bu mekherri, baba adjina, admam, busorulu, zaarur. Tam.: Attemen, admama, demamaï, idmine, izmine.
Shrub or small tree, deciduous, thorny, up to 8(10) m in height, irregular in shape, but ± oblong, with rounded crown. Trunk sometimes well defined, slightly tortuous, with brown-greyish bark, highly fissured in old specimens. Branches ± extended, thorny. Bark smooth, grey —younger branches can also have yellowish-brown or reddish bark—, glabrous or glabrescent. Leaves alternate or grouped in brachyblasts (1)2-7 × 1-6 cm (exceptionally with leaves up to 12 × 8 cm), obovate-spatulate, acute, with cuneiform base, with 3-7 unequal lobules ± deep, acute or obtuse; upper leaves generally more lobed than the lower leaves —these can sometimes be subentire or entire—, slightly coriaceous, glabrous and bright green on the upper side and sometimes slightly pubescent and somewhat lighter and matt on the underside. Petiole generally glabrous, 8-20 mm long. Stipules foliaceous. Inflorescence terminal, corymbiform, on the brachyblasts, with long branching, glabrous or slightly pubescent. Calyx glabrous or slightly pubescent, with 5 small triangular sepals. Corolla with 5 white petals, glabrous, suborbicular. Stamens numerous (about 20), with pink to reddish anthers. Styles 1-3. Fruit a somewhat fleshy, ovoid or subglobose pome, 10-12 mm long, crowned by the persistent calyx, glabrous, green at first and finally red. Seed 1 (rarely 2-3).
Flowering:
February to May.
Fruiting:
August to October.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky areas on all types of substrates, from sea level to 2,200 m. In semiarid to humid bioclimate, on inframediterranean to mesomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region, central-northern Europe; in Asia, up to Siberia and the Himalayas. In North Africa, it is the species from this genus that best withstands drought and therefore the most widespread. It is widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean, reaching in Morocco, in the S, to the western Anti-Atlas, the Saharan Atlas in Algeria and Tunisian Dorsal. Further E it has been cited in Libya.
Observations:
In recent decades, 2 subspecies have been differentiated in North Africa and S of the Iberian Peninsula. C. monogyna subsp. monogyna, with leaves deeply lobed or pinnatifid, and C. monogyna subsp. maura (L.f.) Maire (C. maura L.f.), with leaves lobed only at the apex. They have often been separated at a specific level, however there are numerous intermediate forms and, as a result, it is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to differentiate between them. Currently, they are considered as mere varieties or forms of the complex group of C. monogyna.
Conservation status:
Common and widespread species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.