Shrub or tree up to ca. 4 (-10) m tall. Twigs more or less lanate or lanate-tomentose. Thorns up to ca. 8 cm long, more or less stout. Buds 2–3 (-4.2) mm long, 2–3 (-4.8) mm in diameter. Leaf blades more or less coriaceous, more or less lustrous dark green and appressed-pubescent above, pale or greyish-green and glabrous or appressed pubescent beneath, attenuate, cuneate or rounded at base, lobes obtuse, acute or cuspidate, margin entire or serrate with more or less coarse teeth; basal pair of veins divergent, straight or convergent. Subterminal leaf blades of flowering shoots (10-) 15–30 (-80) × (7-) 10–25 (-70) mm, lobes 1–2 (-4) pairs, rarely absent, basal lobes sometimes extending to midrib, each lobe entire or with (1-) 2–3 (-6) teeth in distal half, lobe length 0.5–1 (-3) times to width; petiole (2-) 4–6 (-17) mm; stipules rarely absent or 3–5 (-10) × 0.5–1 (-3) mm, entire or with 1–3 teeth. Subterminal leaf blades of short shoots (10-) 15–30 (-70) × (10-) 15–25 (-50) mm, lobes 1–2 (-4) pairs, basal pair extending to midrib, basal lobe entire or with 3 (-6) teeth in the upper half; petiole (2-) 4–8 (-28) mm long; stipules mostly undeveloped or 2–3 (-5) × 0.5–1 mm. Leaf blades of elongate shoots (15-) 20–35 (-80) × 15–25 (-70) mm, lobes 1–3 (-4) pairs, basal pair entire or 1–4 (-8) teeth at upper half; petiole 2–10 (-20) mm; stipules 4–10 (-25) × (0-) 3–5 mm, with 3–5 (-10) teeth. Inflorescence (10-) 15–20 (-45) × 15–20 (-60) mm long, corymbose, (5-) 10–20 (-25) flowered, more or less lanate or lanate-tomentose; pedicels 2–5 (-10) mm; bracts 1–4 × 0.2–0.9 mm, caducous, linear or lanceolate, margin entire or denticulate with 1–6 teeth. Flowers (5-) 10–15 mm in diameter. Hypanthium 3–6 × 3–6 mm; sepals 1.2–3.5 × 1.6–3.9 mm, usually broadly triangular, margin entire, apex more or less acute; petals 3–7 × 4–7 mm; stamens 15–20 (-22), anthers purple; styles (1-) 2–3 (4). Fruit (6-) 8–12 (-35) mm, depressed-globose, globose or slightly pyriform, yellowish-green or orange, often tinged with red, when dried, often becoming dark red; the immature fruit crowned by the persistent erect or spreading sepals, at maturity sepals re-curved; pyrenes (4-) 5–7 × 6–8 (-20) mm, dorsally sulcate, ventrally smooth, hypostyle pilose.

Crataegus aronia L. var. dentata Browicz, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 31: 324. 1972. TYPE [Turkey] Muğla: Marmaris, Bayır, 15 iv 1965, P.H.Davis 41136 (holotype: E!; isotype: K!).

Crataegus aronia var. minuta Browicz, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 31: 324. 1972. TYPE: [Turkey] Hatay: 8 km from Belen towards Antakya, ca. 600 m elev., 6 v 1965, Coode & Jones 521 (holotype: E!).

This new variety differs from the other varieties (Crataegus azarolus L. var. minuta Browicz and Crataegus azarolus L. var. dentata Browicz and Crataegus azarolus L. var. aronia L.) by its deeply divided leaf sinuses, mostly 3–4 pairs of leaf lobes and mostly ovate-oblong leaves at outline.

TURKEY. Şırnak: 20 km from Uludere to Şırnak, above Şenoba, steppe, ca. 1250 m elev., 28. September 2002, A.A.Dönmez 11139, (holotype: HUB, isoptypes, HUB, EGE). Paratypes: Bitlis: Tatvan, Koruklu village, Yenitoprak district, 1734 m elev., hedge, 02.10.2013. A.A.Dönmez 18745-K.Özgişi. (HUB!).

(Figure 3). Crataegus azarolus var. senobaaensis is endemic to southeast Turkey and it is known from two different locations.

Crataegus azarolus var. senobaaensis grows in dry steppes from 1250 to 1735 m elevation.

The epithet denotes the type locality Şenoba.

Crataegus azarolus var. senobaaensis should be labelled as “Critically Endangered”, (CR B1+D) according to the IUCN (2017) threat categories. The area of occupancy is estimated to be smaller than 100 km² and the number of examined mature individuals is less than 50. Besides this, all of the examined specimens are known from habitats which are not under threat.

Figure 3. 

Distribution of the taxa. (square)Crataegus azarolus var. senobaaensis; (star) Crataegus monogyna var. odemisii var. nov. (circle) Crataegus yaltirikii (Near East topographic map-blank.svg).

[Turkey] Şırnak: Beytüşşebap, above Günyüzü village, opening of deciduous forest, 37°27'N, 043°09'E, 1495 m elev., 28.ix.2002; A.A.Dönmez 11143-B.Mutlu (designated by Dönmez 2007).

(Figure 3). Crataegus yaltirikii is a species native to Turkey where it is known from two locations namely Şırnak and Mersin which are far from each other, nearly 400 km distant.

Crataegus yaltirikii grows in Quercus brantii Lindley forest openings at the type locality and amongst the maquis vegetation in Mersin, a recently discovered location.

“LC” threat category was assessed for Crataegus yaltirikii in the description of the species (2005). Based on the new distribution pattern of the species, the threat category of the species was re-evaluated and “LC” is still the appropriate category for the species.

Trees or shrubs up to 10 m. Twigs glabrous rarely villose. Thorny or thornless, thorns up to 25 (-70) mm. Buds 1.1–2.8 × 1.1–2.5 mm. Leaves ±coriaceous, ±greyish below, glabrous to villose or villose on veins beneath, attenuate to widely cuneate at base, lobes obtuse to acute, entire to incised serrate at margin. Subterminal leaf blades of flowering shoots 10–35 (-57) × 8–30 (-60) mm, lobes (0-) 1–2 (-3) pairs, basal sinuses close to midvein, angles of basal vein at or wider than 45°, rarely narrower, basal lobes entire or with 2–4 (-9) serrate teeth in distal 1/2 to 3/4, petiole (1-) 5–15 (-30) mm; stipules (1-) 3–10 (-16) × 0.2–0.4 mm, entire or irregularly glandular serrate with 1–5 (-8) teeth. Subterminal leaf blades of short shoots (10-) 15–35 (-57) × (8-) 15–30 (-55) mm, lobes (0-) 1–2 (-3) pairs, basal sinuses reach to half lamina or close to midvein, lobes entire or with (2-) 4–8 (-14) teeth in the distal 1/3 to 1/8, petiole 5–15 (-45) mm, stipules undeveloped or (1-) 2–3 mm, entire or with 2–4 teeth. Middle leaf blades of elongate shoots 20–40 (-60) × 20–40 (-65) mm, 2–3 (-4) pairs, basal lobes with (0-) 3–5 (-16) teeth in distal 1/4 to 1/8, petiole (6-) 10–20 (-25) mm; stipules (4-) 8–15 (-20) × 2–4 (-8) mm, entire or irregularly serrate with 2–10 (-35) teeth. Inflorescence (10-) 15–35 (-50) × 15–45 mm, corymbose, lax, (5-) 8–15 (-20) flowered, glabrous to villose, pedicels 4–10 (-32) mm, bracts 0.5–8 (-10) × 0.1–0.5 mm, deciduous, linear-lanceolate, entire or denticulate with 1–4 teeth. Flowers (5-) 8–12 mm in diameter; hypanthium 2–4 × 2–3 mm; sepals 1.2–4 × 1.2–2.6 mm, widely triangular margin entire, acute or obtuse; petals (3-) 4–5 (-7) × 4–6 (-7) mm; stamens (15-) 18–20, anthers maroon; styles 1. Fruit 5–11 × 4–7 (-10) mm, globose to cylindrical, red to dark red, rarely orange, glabrous or sparsely villose, flesh yellowish, juicy to mealy, sepals recurved at maturity; pyrenes 4–6 (-9) × 3–5 (-8) mm, 1 (-2), dorsally and ventro-laterally entire or striate, hypostyle glabrous.

This new variety differs from the other varieties (Crataegus monogyna Jacq. var. monogyna and Crataegus monogyna var. lasiocarpa (Lange) K.I.Christ.) sensu Christensen (1992) by its orange fruit colour in contrast to red fruits in the former.

TURKEY. İzmir: Ödemiş, around Gölcük region, towards peak of Bozdağ, 1050–1120 m elev., 9 September, 2014, A.A.Dönmez 20263-S. Özderin, (holotype: HUB); isotypes: HUB, EGE). Paratypes: İzmir: Ödemiş, around Gölcük region, towards to peak of Bozdağ, 1050–1120 m elev., 8 October, 2013, S. Özderin s.n.; 22 May, 2015, S. Özderin s.n. (HUB).

flowering in May and fruiting in September-October.

in openings of Pinus nigra forest.

(Figure 3). Crataegus monogyna var. odemisii is endemic to İzmir; it has a narrow distribution at Gölcük.

Crataegus monogyna var. odemisii grows in openings of Pinus nigra forest between 1050 and 1120 m elevation. The basic vegetation type is maquis at lower elevations of the area. Besides this, Pinus nigra forest replaces it at higher altitudes and steppe vegetation dominates above the tree zone.

The epithet of this new variety denotes the collection area, Ödemiş.

Crataegus monogyna var. odemisii should be assigned to “Critically Endangered”, (CR B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv), D) according to the IUCN (2017) threat categories. The area of occupancy is estimated to be less than 10 km² and the examined specimens are known only from alongside the road. The location is close to the picnic area of the Gölcük Lake and is under threat from fire, cutting and other anthropogenic effects.

Two new varieties have been published by Browicz (1972) from Turkey under the species name of C. aronia L. These two varieties were reduced to synonym by Christensen (1992) with their published name and he accepted the name Crataegus azarolus instead of C. aronia. Taxonomic decisions of Christensen have been based solely on herbarium material. During the taxonomic revision of the genus Crataegus, the first author had the opportunity to observe these varieties in their habitats alongside the complete set of morphological variations of the species. Moreover, morphological studies on the large set of herbarium material in the above-mentioned herbaria and fieldwork from Greece to Iran provided more opportunity to observe all kinds of variation of C. azarolus and the closely related taxa. Consequently, based on field observations and herbarium studies on the collected materials, these two varieties, namely Crataegus azarolus L. var. dentata (Browicz) Dönmez and Crataegus azarolus L. var. minuta (Browicz) Dönmez should be accepted as distinct taxa and they should be given as new combinations under the species name of Crataegus azarolus.

Crataegus monogyna is one of the most polymorphic species amongst the Eurasian Crataegus taxa with respect to leaf morphology and indumentum. Due to local variations of the species and species concepts by the authors who studied Crataegus, many new taxa have been described. In addition, new combinations and alteration of their status have been made. Based on these taxonomic and nomenclatural novelties, both taxonomic and nomenclatural synonyms of about 200 names have been listed by Christensen (1992). In C. monogyna, extensive variations in leaf morphology and indumentum are present, whereas variations in fruit colour are limited. Fruit colour of C. monogyna is clearly red and/or with degrees of red. Specimens of the new variety, C. monogyna var. odemisii are yellow. Red and various degrees of red colour for fruit of infraspecific C. monogyna taxa have been observed by the second author and they have hundreds of representative specimens for these fruit colours in the above-mentioned herbaria. According to observations on the fruit colour of single pyrened Crataegus taxon, it is a constant character and unique in the infraspecific taxa of C. monogyna. Hence, it is worthwhile accepting this population as a separate taxonomic status, as a variety.

Crataegus yaltirikii Dönmez is a recently described new species from southeast Turkey and we found a new population of the species on the Taurus Mountain ranges, nearly 400 km away from the type locality. Climatic conditions of these two localities are different; the type locality is a cold and snowy area, whereas the recently discovered locality is characterised by hot and dry summers, rainy and warm winters. We have not yet obtained molecular works on these disjunct populations. Besides this, we assume that these populations should be local ecotypes of the species.