Crataegus opaca (Mayhaw)

[J Kolenovsky]

Has anyone ever planted one of these?

[David J Bockman]

I have no firsthand experience with them. Here's what Dirr has to say:

"Selected species in the Southeast are affectionately termed Mayhaw and are grown for their reddish (some blue-purple) fruits which are processed into jellies, et al. The jelly is a rich rose red, jewel-like agar with a slight tangy taste. As a group, the species have perhaps little to offer the everyday landscape but are worth considering for fringe areas of the garden. The taxonomy is extremely muddled and one reference lists over 100, another lists 35, species for the Southeast. Approximately 1000 species of CRATAEGUS have been proposed as legitimate. The reasons for lack of consistency include apomixis, polyploidy, and aneuploidy which results in unusual chromosome numbers that may be perpetuated via apomixis. The species occur in many habitats from river bottoms, wet depressions to sandy scrub oak-pine woods to thin soils of rock outcrops. They are an extremely important food source for wildlife and particularly birds who disseminate them widely... Possibly the best review paper is "Mayhaws: Trees of Pomological and Ornamental Interest," HORTSCIENCE 25:246, 375 (1990)."

Dave

-- Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky

2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful ô¿ô - - business ô¿ô - - personal

[J Kolenovsky]

Thanks, Dave. I did lookups in my library of books and googed and hooed the web. I probably have a good sense for them. Thank you for letting me know you have no firsthand knowledge of them. I know it's Dirr's opinion, " As a group, the species have perhaps little to offer the> everyday landscape but are worth considering for fringe areas of the garden", but, as a native habitat landscaper, I differ with that. "They are an extremely important food source for wildlife and particularly birds who disseminate them widely" is probably a better description. The jelly, which sells for a premium, is good tasting. The c. opaca is not as pretty as the c.marshalli.

Living in Texas in ecoregion 2 (gulf prairies and marshes)which has fringes of ecoregion 1 (pineywoods), I have seen Haws but never paid any close attention to them. I have identified Parsley Hawthorn (c. marshalli) on several occasions. Apparently, haws are a good thicket, understory plant in full/dappled shade. Some haws have thorns and some don't. Birds sometimes like thorned specimens for cover and protection.

The reason I posted this is I am looking for people who have planted specimens of this family. I am grouping Redbay, Sassafras, Carloina Buckthorn, Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Possomhaw Viburnum and Farkleberry near this proposed specimen planting to enhance my certified wildlife habitat,

to draw more species of wildlife.

Thanks again for your reply,

J. Kolenovsky

=

David J Bockman wrote:

[Jim Lewis]

There may be 5-6 people in the nation who can make a legitimate claim to be hawthorn experts. I'm not one of them, but I have grown small ones in small pots. They are _extremely_ difficult to transplant in a trunk size over an inch in width at the base.

I've grown parsley haw -- or what I've identified as parsley haw, because it and all the rest of the genus are so variable and cross breed so easily that you can never be sure. We have mayhaws down here, but they aren't identified as C. opaca, but, rather C. aestivalis which is, in many instances, almost indistinguishable from our native crabapple, except when in fruit. There's a fellow just down the road from me (I live In The Country!) who sells "mayhaw honey" but it is -- I think -- really from Malus angustifolia. ;-), which is the only early-spring-flowering tree (aside from Chickasaw plums - P. angustifolia (!)) - I saw when I wandered his 300 acres a few years ago.

Jim Lewis - [e-mail] - Tallahassee, FL - VEGETARIAN: An Indian word meaning "lousy hunter."

Living in Texas in ecoregion 2 (gulf prairies and marshes)which has fringes of ecoregion 1 (pineywoods), I have seen Haws but never paid any close attention to them. I have identified Parsley Hawthorn (c. marshalli) on several occasions. Apparently, haws are a good thicket, understory plant in full/dappled shade. Some haws have thorns and some don't. Birds sometimes like thorned specimens for cover and protection.

The reason I posted this is I am looking for people who have planted specimens of this family. I am grouping Redbay, Sassafras, Carloina Buckthorn, Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Possomhaw Viburnum and Farkleberry near this proposed specimen planting to enhance my certified wildlife habitat,

to draw more species of wildlife.

Thanks aga>

to say:

Mayhaw and are

processed into

with a slight

offer the

of the garden.

100, another

species of

lack of

results in

apomixis. The species

sandy scrub

extremely

disseminate

Trees of

(1990)."

[J Kolenovsky]

Thanks, Jim. I have a 5 gallon that is about an inch wide. There a lot of variations and some of the forms look like crabapples. Chickasaw and Flatwoods Plum grow in our eco-region and I like them. Small understory trees are really nice. I've grown fond of them and have planted many for clients this year. I've planted 5 Ilex decidua (Possomhaw),

year for clients and one for myself. I've tried Blanco Crabapple (Rosaceae Malus ioensis var. texana) but its for the hill country around Austin, TX. It doesn't like our heavy clay.

I can see

confused with some of the haws.

Besides Redbay (Persea borbonia), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Carolina Buckthorn (Rhamnus caroliniana), Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum rufidulum), Possomhaw Viburnum (Viburnum nudum) and Farkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum ), I have planted a Dahoon Holly (ilex cassine), Texas Kidneywood (Eysenhardtia texana), Desert Willow (Chilopsssis linearis), Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus), Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra), Retama (Parkinsonia aculeata), Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora), Texas Buckeye (Aesculus glabra var. arguta) and Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana). These can be found at

natives for our area. My landscape will change over the coming years.

I drove from Panama City to Tallahassee > =

[J Kolenovsky]

Dang it, I forgot Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa).

J

Jim Lewis wrote:

[Jim Lewis]

There are no transplant problems from an established potted plant to the ground. I was referring to digging largish ones up and then replanting. THAT is difficult.

crabapples. Chickasaw and Flatwoods Plum grow in our eco-region and I like them. Small understory trees are really nice. I've grown fond of them and have planted many for clients this year.

Be sure to tell them that the BEST plum jelly is made from Chicasaw plum, so they need to plant several (though they'll form thickets, anyway, within a few years if the landowner isn't careful). ;-)

year for clients and one for myself. <

I prefer I. vomitoria for landscape use. I decidua is (IMHO) too coarse in its leafless state to be attractive in winter.

(Rosaceae Malus ioensis var. texana) but its for the hill country around Austin, TX. It doesn't like our heavy clay.<

snip

Besides Redbay (Persea borbonia), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Carolina Buckthorn (Rhamnus caroliniana), Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum rufidulum), Possomhaw Viburnum (Viburnum nudum) and Farkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum ),

AKA "sparkleberry" in THIS area of the country. V. arboreum is extremely common in the understory of the woods around my house. So far, the largest I've found has a trunk diameter at the base of nealry 10 inches. It is gorgeous in mid spring. Sassafrass' vitrue comes only in the fall -- unless you like the tea. ;-)

snip

Jim Lewis - [e-mail] - Tallahassee, FL - Only to the white man was nature a wilderness -- Luther Standing Bear (Ogallala Sioux Chief)