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Editor's Picks

Michael Eason hiking in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to observe Washingtonia filifera in situ
Currently at San Antonio Botanic Garden, Michael's work has...
Amy Byrne | Feb 15, 2023
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An exhibition that beautifully depicts and locates oaks
Roderick Cameron | Feb 09, 2023
Burke Oak Collection at New York Botanical Garden
The Coleman and Susan Burke Oak Collection at The New York...
Todd Forrest | Feb 08, 2023

Plant Focus

Quercus xjackiana acorns
The hybrid of Q. alba and Q. bicolor

The Hidden Hawthorn Society

I have always suspected that there was a secret hawthorn society hiding within the IOS. Ron Lance, the second President of the IOS, wrote a book about hawthorns of the Southeastern United States. He had already coauthored an earlier book on the subject. Several members of the IOS in America, Europe, and even Australia collect Crataegus.  

Last weekend, the Belgian Dendrology Society held a full-day event devoted to Crataegus. In the afternoon, a visit was organized to an excellent hawthorn collection in Tielt, Belgium, a collection assembled by nurseryman Kurt Van Nieuwenhuyse, who works with Dirk Benoit, another IOS member interested in Crataegus. Three past and current Presidents of the IOS attended the meeting. 

 

Right to left: Eike Jablonski, Ron Lance, Charles Snyers with Crataegus pinnatifida (photo by E. Ryelandt)