This tree is at the eastern end of the Chinese and Japanese section.

Purchased from James Coles & Sons (Nurseries), Thurnby, Leicester.

Crataegus × lavalleei, sometimes known as hybrid cockspur thorn or Lavallée’s hawthorn, is a hybrid that arose between cultivated specimens of Mexican Hawthorn (Crataegus Mexicana) and Late Hawthorn (Crataegus. calpodendron).  It is an ornamental small tree with glossy dark green unlobed leaves that is used horticulturally.

The female parent was Crataegus mexicana (sometimes mistakenly called Crataegus. pubescens), and the male parent is thought to be Crataegus calpodendron.

Carrière’s hawthorn, Crataegus. × carrierei has the same parentage, and is therefore the same species. There are minor differences between Lavallée’s hawthorn and Carrière’s hawthorn, and the latter is considered a separate cultivar, which is formally written as Crataegus ‘Carrierei’. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. The leaves turn red before falling very late in the season. This cultivar is also characterised by almost thornless stems, and abundant orange berries which last long on the tree.

Garden origin circa 1870.