Rosaceaae - Rose Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 79
Hawthorn
Crataegus, sp
The fruits of the Hawthorn are tart, bright red, and resemble small crabapple fruits.
The fruits can be eaten raw, cooked, or in jam. The leaves are edible and, if picked in spring when still young, they are tender enough to be used in salads.
Hawthorns have been used in naturopathic, Chinese, herbal and traditional medicine.
This is a small tree with long thorns. Leaves are toothed, variable, and simple.
There are as many as 1000 varieties of hawthorn trees. Some botanists will debate the number as being 100 varieties of hawthorns. This is because they are almost indistinguishable as species.
The Hawthorn berries stay on the tree through the winter providing food for many small mammals and birds.
Oh, Hawthorn; what a tree. This tree has big thorns and beautiful fruit. This Hawthorn is what I call "on top of the world"; it lives on Mt. Pisgah on the Blueridge Parkway. There are many Hawthorns growing at this elevation. It is over 5,000 feet above sea level at Mt. Pisgah.
The late summer ID tip is to look for the berries and the one-inch thorns, and it is probably a hawthorn.
The thorns stand out in the winter to help us identify this tree when the leaves are absent.
I am challenged in identifying Hawthorn. I have been calling theHawthorn trees I visit, Hawthorn, sp. So, when I went to look up the Champions, I was getting species names of different Hawthorns. So, I will need to research further which Hawthorn species I am visiting.
Plant a Hawthorn Tree
Can you imagine no insects?
Can you imagine no birds?
Like Rachel Carson called it, a silent spring. Rachel Carson made a difference.
May we all make a difference and educate ourselves about why we must plant species native to the area in which we live. Educate yourselves for now and for our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren.
For the love of the trees,
Becky
The Hawthorn tree is thorns, flowers, berries, and leaves.
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 79
Hawthorn
Crataegus, sp
Spring
 |
| The Hawthorn Tree - Crataegus sp. |
This Hawthorn lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens. http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/
This time of year the Hawthorn tree has no leaves so the thorns are very visible as well a few berries still hanging on the tree.
Summer
 |
| Hawthorn Tree Flowers and Thorns on the BlueRidge Parkway. Photo by Robert Priddy. www.RobertPriddyPhoto.com |
 |
| The champion Hawthorn Tree at the Asheville Botanical Gardens |
The fruits can be eaten raw, cooked, or in jam. The leaves are edible and, if picked in spring when still young, they are tender enough to be used in salads.
Hawthorns have been used in naturopathic, Chinese, herbal and traditional medicine.
This is a small tree with long thorns. Leaves are toothed, variable, and simple.
There are as many as 1000 varieties of hawthorn trees. Some botanists will debate the number as being 100 varieties of hawthorns. This is because they are almost indistinguishable as species.
The Hawthorn berries stay on the tree through the winter providing food for many small mammals and birds.
Fall
 |
| Hawthorn, sp |
The late summer ID tip is to look for the berries and the one-inch thorns, and it is probably a hawthorn.
Winter
 |
| The Hawthorn Tree |
The Champion Hawthorn Trees
I am challenged in identifying Hawthorn. I have been calling theHawthorn trees I visit, Hawthorn, sp. So, when I went to look up the Champions, I was getting species names of different Hawthorns. So, I will need to research further which Hawthorn species I am visiting.
My favorite Hawthorn Tree
My favorite Hawthorn trees live at the campground by Mt. Pisgah, the Mt. Pisgah campground. They are strong and healthy and really beautiful.
Plant a Hawthorn Tree
Can you imagine no birds?
Like Rachel Carson called it, a silent spring. Rachel Carson made a difference.
May we all make a difference and educate ourselves about why we must plant species native to the area in which we live. Educate yourselves for now and for our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren.
For the love of the trees,
Becky
The Hawthorn tree is thorns, flowers, berries, and leaves.
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