Crataegus oxyacantha explained

The name Crataegus oxyacantha L. has been rejected as being of uncertain application, but is sometimes still used.

Taxonomy

Linnaeus introduced the name Crataegus oxyacantha for a species of Northern European hawthorn^[1] and the name gradually became used for several similar species, which were assumed to be the same, particularly the Midland hawthorn C. laevigata and the common hawthorn C. monogyna. In 1946, Dandy showed that Linnaeus had actually observed and described a single-styled species similar to the common hawthorn,^[2] and the Midland hawthorn was effectively a later discovery. However, Byatt showed that confusion over the true identity of C. oxyacantha remained,^[3] and the name was formally rejected as ambiguous by the International Botanical Congress.^[2] ^[4] More recently, Christensen concluded^[5] that the species studied by Linnaeus matches C. rhipidophylla Gand., a relatively rare species.

Notes and References

Book: Linnaeus , Carl . Carl Linnaeus. 1753. Species Plantarum. Laurentius Salvius. 1st. Latin. Species Plantarum.
Brummitt. Richard Kenneth. Richard Kenneth Brummitt. August 1986. Report of the Committee for Spermatophyta: 30. Taxon. 35. 3. 556–563. 0040-0262. 10.2307/1221918. 1221918.
Byatt. Jean Irene. July 1974. Application of the names Crataegus calycina Peterm. and C. oxyacantha L. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 69. 1. 15–21. 0024-4074. 10.1111/j.1095-8339.1974.tb01610.x.
Book: 2018 . Turland . N.J. . etal. International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Shenzhen Code) adopted by the Nineteenth International Botanical Congress Shenzhen, China, July 2017 . electronic . Glashütten . International Association for Plant Taxonomy . 2018-06-27 . .
Book: Christensen , Knud Ib . 1992. Revision of Crataegus section Crataegus and nothosection Crataeguineae (Rosaceae-Maloideae) in the Old World. American Society of Plant Taxonomists. Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. Systematic Botany Monographs. 35. 1–199. 978-0-912861-35-7. 26173211.