''Crataegus coccinea'', the scarlet hawthorn, is a species of

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

around which there is considerable confusion because the name has been misapplied for a long time. It has been shown to be the same as ''C. pedicellata'', and under the rules of

botanical nomenclature Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this ...

, the older name (''C. coccinea'') should be used.

Taxonomic history

In 1901,

Charles Sprague Sargent Charles Sprague Sargent (April 24, 1841 – March 22, 1927) was an American botanist. He was appointed in 1872 as the first director of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts, and held the post until his death. He pub ...

chose a

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

for ''Crataegus coccinea'' from among Linnaeus's specimens, but chose a specimen that resembles ''C. dodgei'' Ashe. Sargent's lectotype opinion was followed by other authors until he realized his error and corrected it in 1909. The name ''C. coccinea'' has also been misapplied to specimens of '' C. intricata'' Lange. For almost 100 years, particularly since 1910, this species was generally called ''Crataegus pedicellata'' Sarg. except by a few authors. Linnaeus's original description was inadequate to make a decision between various unrelated species, including ''C. nigra'', ''C. phaenopyrum'', and ''C. mollis''. A component of the 2003 lectotype decision was that

John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1783 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, collected for the purpose of ...

had founded series ''Coccineae'' on ''C. coccinea'', which includes ''C. pedicellata'', to which Linnaeus's specimen 187 of the Clifford Herbarium (now at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

) is considered to belong. With this taxonomy, ''C. pedicellata'' Sarg. is a

heterotypic synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

of ''C. coccinea'' L.

References

External links

''Crataegus pedicellata'' picture at www.sci.muni.cz
coccinea Trees of the Southeastern United States Flora of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Crataegus-stub