Crataegus laciniata Ucria
C. pubescens C. Presl., C. eriocarpa Pomel, C. orientalis M. Bieb. subsp. presliana K.I. Chr., C. boissieri Willk.
Spa.: Majuelo peloso, espino albar peloso, majoleto peloso. Fre.: Aubépine laciniée. Ara.: Bu mekherri, baba adjina. Tam.: Attemen, admama, demamaï, idmine, izmine.
Shrub or small tree, deciduous, thorny, up to 6 m in height, ramose, irregular in shape, with extended branches. Trunk well defined in old trees that grow on good soils, with brownish-grey bark, fissured. Branches greyish, branches of a few years brown; younger branches villous-tomentose, lanate, chestnut or brown. Leaves alternate or grouped in brachyblasts [(1)2.4 × (0.8)1-3 cm], ovate and obovate, acute, ± cuneiform at the base, with laciniate and pinnatifid margin, with 3-7 very deep lobes, sometimes split up to almost the midrib. Lobes ± oblong, with entire margin except at the tip, which is irregularly dentate. Leaves are otherwise villous-lanate, with white hairs on both sides, much more abundant on the underside, ± intense green on the upper side, whitish on the underside. Petiole well developed, villous-lanate (5-15 mm long). Stipules with entire margin. Inflorescence corymbiform, terminal, on brachyblasts, with villous-lanate branching. Calyx villous-lanate, with 5 small triangular sepals, greenish-whitish. Corolla with 5 white petals, glabrous, suborbicular, about 5 × 5 mm. Stamens 15-22, with pinkish to reddish-purple anthers. Styles 2-3, although sometimes there are flowers with 1, 4 or 5. Fruit a somewhat fleshy, subglobose pome, crowned by the persistent calyx, bright red, slightly tomentose. Seeds (1)2-4.
Flowering:
May to July.
Fruiting:
September to November.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky outcrops on calcareous or siliceous terrains, somewhat mountainous (1,300-2,500 m). In dry to humid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean to oromediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Western Mediterranean region. In North Africa it grows in Morocco (Rif -Jebel Tendri and others-, Middle Atlas, High Atlas and Mt. Debdou) and in Algeria (eastern Tellian Atlas and Aures Massif); characteristic of the undergrowth of cedar forests. It has been cited in Tunisia but there are doubts of its presence here.
Observations:
According to the review by Christensen (1992), in the western Mediterranean this taxon would be C. orientalis subsp. presliana, and it has been cited as such in Flore Pratique du Maroc (1999). However, given the probability of agamospermy in this group, it seems more prudent to keep the specific name given by Ucria, maintaining the characters of the description of C. laciniata and its range separated from the other Mediterranean populations.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.