18.) PYRACANTHA to FILIPENDULA

PYRACANTHA M. Roem.

Pyracantha coccinea M. Roem. (Firethorn) / General Uncommon Commonly grown in gardens for ornament and hedging and sometimes gets bird-sown; escaping onto nearby marginal ground such as walls, rock-faces, old quarries, railway banks, hedgerows, scrub and woodland.
Pyracantha coccinea x P. rogersiana (Hybrid Firethorn, Firethorn x Asian Firethorn) General Very Rare A very rare introduction but probably widely grown and under-recorded for the extremely variable P. coccinea. It was recorded from South Stoke according to the Flora of the Bristol Region (2000).
Pyracantha rogersiana (A.B. Jacks.) Coltm.-Rog. (Asian Firethorn) General Very Rare A very rare introduction. Recorded at Thornbury in 2020s by ? [BSBI record].

[There's another record from near Freshford which might just be within the region.]

AMELANCHIER Medik.

Amelanchier lamarckii F.G. Schroed. (A. arborea × A. laevis. = R. x lamarckii F.G. Schroed - Kew, GBIF) (Juneberry) General Rare Widely grown for ornament. Recorded in the wild from East Bristol in 1990s? by ? [BSBI record] and most recently a self-seeded sapling was found along Redcliffe Parade, above Redcliffe Caves, Bristol in 2023 by D. Peters.

MESPILUS L.

Mespilus germanica L. (Crataegus germanica (L.) Kuntze - Kew, GBIF) (Medlar) - Woodland Rare Sparsely scattered over the region as a very rare bird-sown escape or more often as a planted relic in hedges and woods, with noticeable new records in the north of the region in the Thornbury area. A most notable tree which is mentioned in White (1912), growing on "the under-cliff at Clevedon, pointed out to me in 1879 by Mrs. Laison and Mr. W. E. Green...growing in a situation where it was certainly never planted", was still present in 1992 when observed by ? [is it still present here?]. Medlar originates from south-eastern Europe and the Middle East and has been cultivated in Britain since the middle ages. It is still sometimes grown for its peculiar-looking and tasting fruit - which requires being allowed to become almost rotten before they can be eaten without making your face turn inside out with sharpness! When ready, the taste is similar to toffee apples.

A large bush (spinous) on the left bank of the Chew, a short distance above the viaduct at Pensford. Not planted there, although the adjacent ground is cultivated. Another tree, which I have not seen, is reported from the Nightingale Valley Woods, near Weston-in-Gordano.

Mespilus germanica x Crataegus laevigata = X Crataemespilus grandiflora (Sm.) E.G. Camus (Crataegus × lobata (Poir.) Bosc) (Haw-medlar) 1964 Woodland Extinct Was noted at Goblin Combe in 1964 by J.E. Fraymouth and L.E. Hawker.

[Bristol Botany in 1964 and also BSBI - check to see if there's more information.]

CRATAEGUS L.

Crataegus coccinea L. (var. coccinea) (Pear-fruit Cockspurthorn)? General Extinct White (1912) mentions an unnamed species of Crataegus "with nearly entire leaves and strong thorns, has been gathered in a hedgerow by Mrs. Gordon, and in a coppice near Leap Bridge by Mr. Samson." This might have been Crataegus coccinea. [Need to check Bristol Museum Herbarium.]
Crataegus crus-galli L. (Cockspurthorn) General Very Rare A very rare introduction. First recorded at Shirehampton in 2000 by ?; then at Saltford, between Keynsham and Bath in 2002 by ?; Avon Gorge in 2010s by ?; and at Bedminster in 2020s by ? [BSBI records].
Crataegus persimilis Sarg. ('prunifolia' - Stace) (Broad-leaved Cockspurthorn / Plumleaf Hawthorn) / Woodland A rare introduction; planted for ornament as the cultivar 'prunifolia' and occasionally gets bird-sown in hedgerows and scrub.

[A lot of self-sown plants in Filton, 8.08.25 - R.J. Higgins]

Crataegus crus-galli x C. stipulacea (C. calpodendron (Ehrh.) Medik. × C. mexicana Moc. & Sessé ex DC. - Kew) = C. x lavalleei Hérincq ex Lavallée (Lavallée's Cockspurthorn) General Was recorded in West Bristol pre-1930 by ? [BSBI record].
Crataegus monogyna Jacq. (ssp. nordica Franco (native), ssp. azarella (Briseb.) Franco? (planted) - Stace) (Hawthorn) / Woodland Abundant in hedgerows, scrub and woodland. A hedge without Hawthorn is a rare sight! "In a favourable season when bloom is profuse the view to be had from the Observatory Hill, looking northward over our Downs dotted with masses of pearl and silver, will yield to few in beauty." (White, 1912). It's believed that prior to the enclosure of land (due to its extensive use in hedging) that this was actually originally the rarer of our two native Hawthorns. May, Blossom, Hag-thorn, Pig's Haws, Pig's Hales are alternative local names given by Murray (1896). Crataegus monogyna is an extremely variable species and to complicate matters further, most newly planted hedges often contain continental material pretending to be the native plant but which are undoubtedly other taxa yet to be named. White (1912) mentiones var. splendens - "One tree on the low cliff towards Walton-by-Clevedon...Miss Livett. Another in the wild woodland of Chelvey Batch. A most hadsome form, with fruit about four times heavier than that of the type. Six ripe fruits weighed seven grammes, while six ordinary haws of average size were under two grammes. The measured dimensions averaged 15 mm. by 12 mm., against 9 by 8 in type monogyna" and goes on to say "It is odd to see Whitethorn boughs bending down under the weight of haws just as those of orchard trees often do when apple crops are good". Riddelsdell (1948) also adds var. stricta, recorded from Nupdown in 1932 by E. Nelmes; a specimen 30 ft. high "looking like a hedgerow pear tree", along with 4 others outside our area.

A yet more interesting one is the famous "Holy Thorn of Glastonbury" - an odidity which flowers twice a year, once in Spring and then again around Christmas time. It is sometimes known as var. praecox or 'Biflora' in cultivation. According to legend, it sprang from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea when missionary in Britain, was for centuries an object of veneration and of pilgrimage. One of its earliest mentions was made by William Turner (1562): "In Summersetshyre about six myles from Welles, in ye parke of Glassenbury there is a hawthorne which is grene all the wynter, as all they that dwell there about do stedfastly holde". And later by John Parkinson (1640): "I suppose it a strange worke of nature, or of the God of nature rather, to cause such a tree being in all parts thereof like unto the common Hawthorne to blossome twice every yeare, the one time usually in May, the other about Christmas, eyther somewhat before or somewhat after, according to the temperature of the Winter at that time...It beareth also after these flowers are past, greene berries, so that it will have both ripe fruit and greene at one and the same time upon the tree. There hath not been observed any other difference between this kind and the ordinary Hawthorne". The original tree to which the legend is described was cut down and burned as a relic of superstition during the English Civil War around 1647 but it has been propagated several times and spread widely elsewhere. According to Murray (1896), a specimen existed in the garden of All Saints, Clifton, and another close by on Richmond Park Road. Every Christmas, a flowering sprig from a tree in the grounds of the Church of St John is sent to the Monarch - a practice which began during the reign of Charles I but then seaced after Charles II until 1929 when it was reiniciated for Queen Mary and King George V. Since then it's been an annual event.

[According to legend, it sprang from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea when missionary in Britain, was for centuries an object of veneration and of pilgrimage. It had the singular habit of often blooming a second time about Christmas-tide. This habit is shared by its descendants, raised from seed or cuttings, that have been well distributed. One of these stands amid the Abbey ruins; another in the garden of All Saints, Clifton; and a third in Richmond Park Road; while others have been carried far and wide. 'One was cut down only a few years since in the parish of Baltonsborough by a farmer who objected to some slight acts of trespassing on the part of visitors' (Murray, 1896).

The trees in the Glastonbury area have been propagated by grafting since ancient times

A flowering sprig is sent to the British Monarch every Christmas

The original tree has been propagated several times, with one tree growing at Glastonbury Abbey and another in the churchyard of the Church of St John. The "original" Glastonbury thorn was cut down and burned as a relic of superstition during the English Civil War The Thorn was chopped down by a zealous Parliamentary soldier, probably in 1647, and one planted on Wearyall Hill in 1951 to replace it had its branches cut off in 2010.

Every Christmas, the Vicar and the Mayor of Glastonbury sent a budded branch of the Glastonbury thorn to The King. Christmas cuttings are known to have been sent to both Charles I and Charles II, but seaced until 1929, when the Vicar of Glastonbury, Lionel Smithett Lewis, sent one to Queen Mary and King George V. The event has become a major feature in the town calendar.

"We have another sort of Hawthorne growing in divers places of our land well knowne to those that dwell about the places where they grow, yet not greatly regarded or wondered at by them,...but I doe not thinke fit that it should be so slightly passed over or so smally respected; for I suppose it a strange worke of nature, or of the God of nature rather, to cause such a tree being in all parts thereof like unto the common Hawthorne to blossome twice every yeare, the one time usually in May, the other about Christmas, eyther somewhat before or somewhat after, according to the temperature of the Winter at that time...It beareth also after these flowers are past, greene berries, so that it will have both ripe fruit and greene at one and the same time upon the tree. There hath not been observed any other difference between this kind and the ordinary Hawthorne".]

Crataegus monogyna x C. laevigata = C. x media Bechst. (Hybrid Hawthorn, Hawthorn x Midland Hawthorn) / Woodland Rare but under-recorded. It often occurs in the absence of Midland Hawthorn and gets widely planted.
Crataegus rhipidophylla Gand ssp. rhipidophylla (Large-sepalled Hawthorn) Woodland Very Rare Found for the first time in our region near Latteridge, South Gloucestershire in 2025 by R.J. Higgins. It is likely to be overlooked for 'C. monogyna' - from which it differs in having the lowest leaf-lobes on leading shoots entire for much less than half way (not greater than half way) from the base to the lobe tip and sepals longer than wide (about as long as wide in C. monogyna). Ssp. lindmanii with sepals erect at fruiting (not patent) and with fruit oblong-cylindrical (not ellipsoid to subglobose) and with more teeth between the tip and the base of the lowest leaf-lobe (typically 12-18 as opposed to 5-13), should be expected to occur as well.
Crataegus laevigata (Poir.) DC. (Midland Hawthorn) - Woodland Scarce A rare species in our area though much better recorded than it was in the past; occurring in hedgerows, woodland and scrub, prefering damp heavier soils and most concentrated in the north of the region. Known in past floras as C. oxyacantha.
Crataegus heterophylla Flüggé (Various-leaved Hawthorn) - Woodland Very rare introduction. Was discovered in a hedge around the wildlife pond at Horfield Common, Bristol and much more extensively in a newly planted hedge around the tennis courts in 2022 by D. Peters. Also found at Shepperdine in 2020s by ? [BSBI record]. It is likely to be under-recorded as it can slip into new hedges unnoticed, disguised as 'Crataegus monogyna'. As it's name suggests, the leaves are very variable in size and shape, even on the same branch. The branches are more drooping and much less spiny than usual Hawthorn. It almost looks like a combination of several species, with some leaves small, obovate, and almost unlobed or with a few lobes terminally (likened to that of C. laevigata), and others larger, ovate and lobed right to the base and more deep-cut (like C. monogyna), but with the lobes more forward-directed. And endless variation inbetween. Many of the hedgerows in our region have existed for 300 years or more and would have largely been created by using locally gathered berries from nearby sources, and were maintained by practices such as hedgelaying and filling in gaps with freshly cut whips from an ajacent bush. However, todays impatient and reckless methods of planting new hedgerows with nursery-grown saplings of unknown origin, encased from top to bottom in plastic tubing and mulched or sprayed to wipe all ground flora out of existance to 'prevent competition', should be deplauded. The jumbled up foreign shrub-lookalikes which now come up in newly created, so-called 'native hedges', is extremely untroubling and frustrating to see and is causing hedaches for botanists who once knew what our trees and shrubs looked like.
Crataegus pentagyna Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd. ssp. pentagyna (Small-flowered Black Hawthorn) General Extinct A native of south-eastern Europe and the Middle East. A single tree was found on Durdham Down in 1995 by M.A.R.K. & C. Kitchen, and determined by E.J. Clement. It has not been sighted since.
Crataegus orientalis Pall. ex M. Bieb. (ssp. orientalis) (Oriental Hawthorn) General Very Rare Very rare. Was recorded at Clifton in 2000 by R. Bland? [is this in a garden?]. White (1912) mentions "Some very handsome species of this genus have been planted in various spots. One, on the Downs near Sea Walls, bears attractive, apple-like fruit". It seems likely that this was C. orientalis. It was also confirmed to be recorded on Durdham down in 1924 (Riddelsdell, 1948) by Brown and Wade and thought by J.W. White to be possibly bird-sown there. [Botanical Exchange Club, 1924, p. 570 (as C. azarolus)].

LYONOTHAMNUS A. Gray

Lyonothamnus floribundus A. Gray ssp. aspleniifolius (Greene) P.H. Raven (Catalina Ironwood) General Very Rare An endemic of Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and the San Clemente islands, California. A single mature tree was discovered on the western corner of Victoria Park in 2021 by D. Peters but C.M. Lovatt said he'd been asked about it before but couldn't remember the name.

FILIPENDULA Mill.

Filipendula vulgaris Moench (Dropwort) / Grassland A rare species of dry calcareous grassland and pastures; mostly confined to the south-western corner of the region and remains locally prominent here; elsewhere scattered and highly localised and appears to have declined greatly since the turn of the century. It's most notable site is on Clifton Downs where it's long been known and whilst the Downs has lost many of it's floral riches since past times, Dropwort still performs and outshines all others in beauty during the busiest months of May to July; occurring in scattered swathes and patches on the most species-rich parts from Circular Road to the bank opposite the old Bristol Zoo.
Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim. (ssp. ulmaria) (Meadowsweet) / Wetland Frequent in wet and watery places along the banks of canals, rivers and ditches, damp meadows, marshes and besides ponds and lakes; occasionally also found on dry land along road verges, track-sides and looking particularly out of place in woodland. White (1912) mentions the var. denudata (under Spiraea ulmaria as it was known then) - an unusual form where the leaves are green underneath rather than white: "By a field path between Stoke Gifford and Hambrook...1909; F. Samson. Ditchbank in Avonmouth marshes...1910; Miss Lucas. Bank of the Dundas Aqueduct on the Wilts boundary...1910; Miss Roper. Walton-in-Gordano, 1910; F. Samson". Murry (1896) gives several interesting alternative names: Queen of the meadow, Maids of the meadow, Meadowort and Honey-sweet.
Filipendula camschatica × F. multijuga = F. x purpurea Maxim. (Red Meadowsweet) [as Filipendula purpurea on DB] Wetland Recorded in a small pond at Sea Mills in 1998 by ?. [is this in a garden?]

List:

Pyracantha coccinea M. Roem. (Firethorn) / General
Pyracantha coccinea x P. rogersiana (Hybrid Firethorn, Firethorn x Asian Firethorn) General
Pyracantha rogersiana (A.B. Jacks.) Coltm.-Rog. (Asian Firethorn) General
Amelanchier lamarckii F.G. Schroed. (A. arborea × A. laevis. = R. x lamarckii F.G. Schroed - Kew, GBIF) (Juneberry) General
Mespilus germanica L. (Crataegus germanica (L.) Kuntze - Kew, GBIF) (Medlar) - Woodland
Mespilus germanica x Crataegus laevigata = (Stace) X Crataemespilus grandiflora (Sm.) E.G. Camus (Crataegus × lobata (Poir.) Bosc - Kew) (Haw-medlar - Stace, Medlar x Midland Hawthorn) 1964 Woodland
Crataegus crus-galli L. (var. coccinea - Kew, GBIF) (Cockspurthorn)? General
Crataegus persimilis Sarg. ('prunifolia' - Stace) (Broad-leaved Cockspurthorn / Plumleaf Hawthorn) / Woodland
Crataegus crus-galli x C. stipulacea (C. calpodendron (Ehrh.) Medik. × C. mexicana Moc. & Sessé ex DC. - Kew) = C. x lavalleei Hérincq ex Lavallée (Lavallée's Cockspurthorn) General
Crataegus monogyna Jacq. (ssp. nordica Franco (native), ssp. azarella (Briseb.) Franco? (planted) - Stace) (Hawthorn) / Woodland
Crataegus monogyna x C. laevigata = C. x media Bechst. (Hawthorn x Midland Hawthorn) / Woodland
Crataegus rhipidophylla ssp. rhipidophylla Gand (Large-sepalled Hawthorn)
Crataegus laevigata (Poir.) DC. (Midland Hawthorn) - Woodland
Crataegus heterophylla Flüggé (Various-leaved Hawthorn) - Woodland
Crataegus pentagyna Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd. (ssp. pentagyna - Kew) (Small-flowered Black Hawthorn) General
Crataegus orientalis Pall. ex M. Bieb. (ssp. orientalis - Kew, GBIF) (Oriental Hawthorn) General
Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. aspleniifolius (Catalina Ironwood) General - an endemic to Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Clemente islands, California - 1 tree, Victoria Park, found by myself in 2021 but Clive said he's been asked about it before. Either place before Sorbaria sorbifolia or after Crataegus.
Filipendula vulgaris Moench (Dropwort) / Grassland
Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim. (ssp. ulmaria - Kew, GBIF) (Meadowsweet) / Wetland
Filipendula camschatica × F. multijuga = F. x purpurea Maxim. (Red Meadowsweet) [as Filipendula purpurea on DB] Wetland

species to add:

Pyracantha rogersiana (A.B. Jacks.) Coltm.-Rog. (Asian Firethorn)
Amelanchier lamarckii F.G. Schroed. (A. arborea × A. laevis. = R. x lamarckii F.G. Schroed - Kew, GBIF) (Juneberry)
Crataegus coccinea L. (var. coccinea) (Pear-fruit Cockspurthorn)?
Crataegus crus-galli L. (Cockspurthorn)
Crataegus crus-galli x C. stipulacea (C. calpodendron (Ehrh.) Medik. × C. mexicana Moc. & Sessé ex DC. - Kew) = C. x lavalleei Hérincq ex Lavallée
Crataegus rhipidophylla ssp. rhipidophylla (Large-sepalled Hawthorn)
Crataegus heterophylla Flüggé (Various-leaved Hawthorn)
Crataegus orientalis Pall. ex M. Bieb. (ssp. orientalis - Kew, GBIF) (Oriental Hawthorn)
Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. aspleniifolius (Catalina Ironwood) General - an endemic to Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Clemente islands, California - 1 tree, Victoria Park, found by myself in 2021 but Clive said he's been asked about it before. Either place before Sorbaria sorbifolia or after Crataegus.
Filipendula camschatica × F. multijuga = F. x purpurea Maxim. (Red Meadowsweet) [as Filipendula purpurea on DB]

Could occur:

Pyracantha crenulata (D. Don) M. Roem. (Nepalese Firethorn) - treated as the same as P. rogersiana by Kew and GBIF
Crataegus punctata Jacq. (Dotted Hawthorn)
Crataegus coccinea L. (var. coccinea - Kew, GBIF) (Pear-fruited Cockspurthorn)
Crataegus succulenta Schrad. (var. succulenta - Kew, GBIF) (Round-fruited Cockspurthorn)
Crataegus monogyna x C. rhipidophylla = C. x subsphaerica Gand. (Common x Large-sepalled Hawthorn)
Crataegus monogyna x C. heterophylla (Common x Various-leaved Hawthorn)
Crataegus rhipidophylla Gand. ssp. lindmanii (Hrabětová) P.A. Schmidt (var. ronnigeri (K. Malý) Janjic - Kew, GBIF) (Large-sepalled Hawthorn)
Crataegus rhipidophylla x C. laevigata = C. x macrocarpa Hegetschw. (Common x Large-sepalled Hawthorn)