| Author | R.W. Lance | |
| Distribution | Known mainly just from high elevations in Jackson and Haywood counties, mostly close to the Blue Ridge Parkway (Lance 2014). However, SERNEC also shows a single specimen record for nearby Macon County. This is the entire range of the species.
This recently described species (2013) is endemic to NC, as far as known.
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| Abundance | Locally numerous -- close to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Jackson and Haywood counties -- but this range likely covers only a few square miles. The NCNHP considers this as a Watch List species. However, NatureServe has not given it a Global Rank; it has a GNR rank. | |
| Habitat | This species is found only at high elevations (mainly over 4500 or 5000 feet) in upland forests and edges, as well as shrub balds. | |
| Phenology | Blooms in May, and fruits in September. | |
| Identification | This is a small tree to about 20 feet tall, with a broad and rounded crown. The leaves are widely ovate to rhombic, with quite strong serrations, though rarely into lobes. The leaves of the sympatric C. macrosperma are somewhat similar, though C. oreophila leaves are somewhat more rounded or wider. The trunk is usually thornless. As this species apparently arose though hybridization between C. macrosperma and either C. succulenta or C. punctata – neither of which are now present in the local area (they occur at least 40 miles away) – most biologists will have difficulty identifying this newly described species, and will need to key out a twig or other characters later. However, in the general vicinity of Old Bald, and from that site west to Snaggy Bald and south to Haywood Gap, you may see the species in some numbers (from Lance 2014). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Lance (2014) described this species, of putative hybrid origin, as Crataegus x oreophila in 2013. (The “x” in the scientific name, as described, indicates a taxon of presumed hybrid origin.) Several more recent references, such as Weakley (2018) and NatureServe Explorer, simply use the C. oreophila name. However, in 2022, Weakley returned the taxon to hybrid status, as Crataegus x oreophila. This website follows Weakley and considers it as a hybrid taxon.
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| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | HYB | |
| Global Rank | GNR | |
| State Status | W7 | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
