21 November 2023.
Madison Parish, Louisiana, United States
Locality: Walnut Bayou (Mississippi River bottom): Interstate 20, westbound, approximately 10 miles west of the Mississippi River and 8.25 miles east of U.S. Highway 65.
Coordinates: 32.3413, -91.0717
(Map it)
Elevation: 26m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Environment description: Damp wooded treeline. Slope: 10%. Aspect: North-northeast. Elevation: 84 feet.
Number of plants sampled: 1
Associated species: Ilex decidua; Cocculus carolinus; Sabal minor; Quercus nigra; Acer negundo; Cornus drummondii; Celtis laevigata; Ampelopsis sp; Carex sp.; Lonicera japonica; Toxicodendron radicans.
Comment: Green hawthorn is a small tree, 20-35’ tall, with a dense, rounded crown, often forming thickets. A facultative wetland species, it can be found growing in bottomland forests, near swamp margins, or other hydric communities. Bark of trunks pale brown to silvery gray, breaking into narrow scales with age, eventually exfoliating to reveal orange inner bark. Twigs brown, glabrous, often completely spineless, but when present spines are 1-1.5 inches long. Leaves ovate-oblong, 1-2.5” long and 0.5-1.5” wide, simple, alternate, base cuneate or rounded, apex, acute to acuminate, margins serrate, sometimes with shallow lobes toward the base, glabrous above, tufts of hairs present where leaf veins join. Flowers showy, in small white corymbs in spring. Fruits are small pomes, 0.25”, globose to sub-globose, [typically] red-orange, fall, persisting through winter. Seed collected from 1 plant with blushed yellow fruit.
Collector(s):