(Crataegus monogyna Jacq.)
Habitus
- it is a shrub or small tree up to 3 - 6 m high, crown is broadly ovate
- bark is brownish-grey, shiny
- bork is gray, rectangularly fissured
Buds
- they are spirally arranged, globose, rounded, sessile
- covering scales are dark reddish brown, shiny
Shoots
- they are reddish brown, later grey
- thorns are stem-like, about 1 cm long
Leaves (assimilation organs)
- the leaves are simple, pinnately divided, divided into 5 - 7 lobes, the lobes are blunt, rarely toothed at the apex, the notches are rounded, the entire margin
- the leaves are broadly ovate in basic outline
- the leaves are 2 - 6.5 x 1.5 - 5.5 cm in size
- the petiole is 1 - 2 cm long
- the bracts are reniform, toothed
Flowers
- the tree is monoecious, the flowers are bisexual, white, grouped in a terminal panicle
- it blossoms in V – VI
Fruits – seeds
- the fruit is a barrel-shaped red capsule, 7 - 10 mm long with brownish flesh
- it contains one ! 5 - 7 mm large seed (dish), broadly ovoid with 2 - 3 ribs
Extension
- it was originally widespread in southern England and Scandinavia, in the Caucasus and Crimea, to southern and western Europe
- in Slovakia it grows from the lowlands up to 1,000 - 1,300 m a.s.l.
- it grows mainly in drier habitats, rocky borders, forest margins
Ecology
- it is a partially shaded, frost-resistant woody plant
Significance
- it is used in hedges
- as a solitary ornamental plant with flowers and in autumn with fruits
- it is a landscape element
- it is a fruit-bearing woody plant
