Editing Crataegus spathulata (section)

== Description ==
The species is described as a shrub or small tree about 3–7 m tall; the North Carolina profile gives a cultivated size of roughly 20–25 ft tall and 15–20 ft wide.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup> Young twigs are dark purple-brown, and the straight blackish thorns are about 3–5 cm long. The leaves are spatulate and about 1.5–3 cm long. White flowers, about 10 mm across, occur in clusters of about 20–30; the flowers are described as strongly scented and have 20 stamens and 3–5 styles.<sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

In the wild it occurs in brush and on calcareous substrates from about 10–500 m elevation, across the southern United States from southern Missouri and Virginia south to eastern Texas and Florida.<sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup> Its bark is described as exfoliating in the North Carolina horticultural profile.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>

The fruit is a small oblong pome, described as coral-red or bright red and about 5 mm across, with up to five seeds. It is produced after the spring bloom and is recorded from September into November.<sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>