Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts

Monday, June 7, 2010

Crataegus laevigata - English Hawthorn

Crataegus laevigata: Crataegus is the Greek name for this genus of trees. Derives from kratos meaning strength, referring to hardness of wood; laevigatais Latin meaning 'having a smooth or slippery surface.'

Previously known as C. oxyacantha from the Greek ‘oxus’ meaning sharp and ‘akantha’ meaning thorn.

Small stature tree from Europe. Greeks and Romans associated Hawthorne with marriage and fertility.

The straight species has white hermaphroditic flowers with a single whorl of petals in terminal corymbs. Flowers appear in spring and attract bees.

Cultivars with pink to red double and single flowers are common.

Clusters of small red, fleshy, pome fruits contain 1-5 seeds and are persistent through winter, attracting birds. Fruit is larger and purer red than C. phaenopyrum. Hawthorne Berries have been used since the nineteenth century to support the heart and to normalize cardiovascular functions.

Linnaeus' original description of C. oxyacantha was later disambiguated into C. monogyna (left) and C. laevigata (right), the main difference being the depth of the sinuses between lobes. C. laevigata also has rounder lobes and serrate margins, whereas C. monogyna can have entire margins or points just at the tips of lobes.

Branches have sharp 1" spines. The branches of this tree are said to have furnished Christ's crown of thorns.

Bark is reddish brown to gray and becomes scaly or peels in thin narrow strips with age.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Quercus robur - English Oak

Broad, irregular canopy with heavy, upward reaching limbs and small twiggy branchlets.

Lobed, oval leaves with a short petiole, if any.

Male flowers.

Dark brown oval acorns with flattened rounded ends and a blunt nib mature in fall. Warty cup scales cover up to one half of the nut.

Dark brown furrowed bark with flat peeling ridge plates.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Laburnum x watereri - Golden Chain Tree

Cultivated hybrid between L. anagyroides and L. alpinum.

Moderate growth rate up to 30' tall with a 20' spread. Bark is smooth and greenish-gray, becoming more grey with age.

Yellow flowers hang down in racemes, like wisteria.

Flattened dull brown legume seed pods with small, black, hard-shelled seeds are sparsely set. Leaves are palmately compound, with oval leaflets.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Fraxinus angustifolia oxycarpa 'Raywood' - Raywood Ash

Fraxinus angustifolia oxycarpa: Fraxinus is the classical Latin name for the ash tree; angustifolia, having narrow leaves; oxycarpa, sharp seed.

Also known as F. a. 'Raywood' and F. o. 'Raywood'

Species is native to southwestern Europe.
'Raywood' is a male cultivar native to Australia which sets no seed.

Upright oval form.

Lanceolate leaves.


Smooth grey bark.