Crataegus punctata
Common name: 
Dotted Hawthorn
Flat-topped Hawthorn
Pronunciation: 
kra-TEE-gus punk-TA-ta
Family: 
Rosaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf deciduous tree, 20-35 ft (~6-10 m), layered horizontal branches, often wider than tall at maturity, broadly flat-topped at maturity, usually a single thorny trunk, pale gray twigs, slender thorns, 2-6 cm long, straight to slightly curved, sometimes branched, occasionally absent.  Leaves simple, alternate, 5-7 cm long, widest hear the top (obovate), gradually tapering to base, margin toothed to slightly lobed, grayish green, many veins ascending obliquely.  Flowers white, about 5-15 mm wide, 3-5 styles, 20 stamen; 5-20 flowers in broad, branched clusters.  Fruit (haws) subglobose or pear-shaped, conspicuously dotted, about 0.5-2.5 cm long, dull red, sometimes yellow, flesh green, hard and acidic until ripe; 3-4 nutlets.
  • Sun to shade.  Susceptible to rust
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 2 (Snyder, 2000), 4 or 5 (all are listed, hardiness likely varies with location in its large native range).      Native range from southern Quebec and Ontario to Minnesota, south to Georgia.  Peattie (1966, p.363) states that, "No tree is more active than this in invading the prairie."
  • punctata: dotted
  • Chaska, Minnesota: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, late spring flowering

    plant habit, late spring flowering

  • flowering branches

    flowering branches

  • flowers and leaves

    flowers and leaves

  • leaves

    leaves

  • plant habit, fall

    plant habit, fall

  • leaf, early fall

    leaf, early fall

  • fruit and thorn

    fruit and thorn

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark