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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE ROSE FAMILY | |||||||||
| The rose family is one of the most
well known plant families in Saskatchewan. Plants in this family are trees,
shrubs or herbs. The shrubs or trees are commonly armed with prickles or
spines. The leaves can be simple or compound and frequently have a saw-toothed
margin. A pair of stipules is usually present at the base of the stem leaves.
The flowers are in various types of clusters or can be solitary. The flowers
are frequently brightly coloured and showy. The flowers have five sepals
and petals, five to many stamens in whorls and one to many fused or distinct
carpels. The fruits can be drupes (ex. cherry), pomes (ex. apple), or aggregates
of achenes (ex. strawberry), pods, or drupelets (ex. raspberry). Many fruit crops are members of the rose family. Cherry, apple, pear, raspberry and strawberry are examples. Roses are used for medicine and for their essential oils. Many roses are grown as ornamentals in gardens. |
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| BLACK HAWTHORN | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Crataegus douglasii var. douglasii | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Black hawthorn is a shrub that grows up to 1.5 metres tall. This shrub has short, stout thorns less than 2 cm long, or the thorns are absent. The leaves are alternate and are irregularly saw-toothed. Each flower has five sepals and petals and up to 10 stamens. The petals are white and the stamens are white or pale pink. The fruit is berry-like and fleshy. The fruit is purplish-black in colour and the seeds are irregularly pitted. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Black hawthorn grows in shore shrub-thickets and open woods. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland and Mixed Grassland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Black hawthorn is vulnerable because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. It is only somewhat regionally restricted in the province. It is usually locally numerous, but in limited areas. No threats are known or anticipated for this species at the present time. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY BLACK HAWTHORN | |||||||||
| * Are the fruits purplish-black and berry-like? * Are the petals white? * Are the thorns (if present) less than 2 cm long? * Did you find it in southwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have black hawthorn! | |||||||||
