 |
| WASHINGTON HAWTHORN... |
 |
| ....CLUSTERS OF BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOMS... |
 |
| ...DISTINCTIVELY LOBED AND TOOTHED LEAF |
We were in Ashland at noon yesterday and the fog and mist and cold NE wind made it feel like a blustery November day. The ice is reportedly gone from Lake Superior now, but I imagine there are still some bergs floating around out there after seven months of ice covering the lake, the longest on record.
The Washington hawthorn, Crataegus crus-galli var. inermis, is a thornless hawthorn, which makes it a suitable, even desirable smaller landscape and park tree. It blooms well, somewhat later than the flowering crab-apples to which it is closely related; it has decorative, useful fruit, and the orange to purple-red fall color is excellent.
However, it has a wide spreading growth habit and the branching is low, so it is difficult to use as a street tree without a lot of constant pruning. Most other hawthorns, although quite as beautiful, are usually too thorny for general park use, although they are fine for naturalizing on woods edges and so forth. Hawthorns have a rather distinctive fragrance, which some folks don't appreciate, although I do not find it unpleasant.
No comments:
Post a Comment