thornless hawthorn?

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Pistil Lake Stevens, WA(Zone 8a) Oct 10, 2013

My friend likes a tree by the gym. He is sadly spending this weekend felling all the big trees by his house. I offered to identify the tree, with the thought of getting them one as a Christmas present. It looked like a hawthorn but seemed to have no thorns. It is only about 10-12 feet tall but does not look mature. I just spent an hour investigating, and found out there are indeed some thornless hawthorns. Crataegus laevigata 'Crimson Cloud' looks very pretty in pictures. But C. x lavallei is on the "Great Plant Picks" list for Seattle. The photos I have seen of it do not show thorns. No thorns will be allowed. Does anyone have any advice about these or other varieties?

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ViburnumValley Scott County, KY(Zone 5b) Oct 10, 2013

I agree with all your assessments, but have no opinion to offer that would be germane to Washington state.

Crataegus viridis 'Winter King' is the superior Hawthorn for the Ohio River valley. Give it a site with extensive reflected heat and little atmospheric moisture, and it will reward with next to no foliar issues with fungi and copious orange-red fruit which persist through winter. No thorns to speak of, either. It is one of the best small ornamental trees with which to grace an extensive paved parking lot with relatively small planting islands.

Plant it with regular to excessive moisture, and you will find it to become a rust bucket....

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Pseudo Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a) Oct 11, 2013

Crataegus crus-galli var. inermis is the standard around here. It can make for an almost perfect small tree and I wish I had reserved an open, sunny area to plant a group of them. Actually, I don't mind the thorns, so no inermis variety for me. Another nice hawthorn is C. ambigua, but it does have thorns...benevolent thorns...

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Pistil Lake Stevens, WA(Zone 8a) Oct 11, 2013

Thanks to both of you for the advice, I am having fun learning about these trees.

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