Crataegus ×canescens (J.B. Phipps) T.A. Dickinson & E.Y.Y. Lo. Stern's Medlar. Phen: Apr; Sep. Hab: Woodlands in the Grand Prairie. Dist: Apparently known only from Prairie County, AR.
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Taxonomy Comments: An apparently sterile, triploid plant of hybrid origin between the European medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) and one or more native Crataegus (Eugenia et al 2007). The nomenclature of this putative compilospecies is discussed in detail by Phipps (2016). The taxonomy of this plant has been controversial -- whether it is best regarded as a species or a nothospecies (hybrid) and its placement in Mespilus, Crataegus, or × Crataemespilus (a question interrelated to the recognition, or not, of Mespilus as separate from Crataegus).
Synonymy: = Ar, K3, K4, Lance (2014); = ×Crataemespilus canescens (J.B.Phipps) J.B.Phipps – Phipps (2016); = Crataegus brachyantha × germanica; = Mespilus canescens – FNA9, K1, Phipps (1990)
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