General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Water Preferences: Wet
Wet Mesic
Mesic
Plant Height: up to 15 feet
Plant Spread: 10 feet if un-trimmed
Leaves: Good fall color
Unusual foliage color
Deciduous
Fruit: Showy
Edible to birds
Flowers: Showy
Fragrant
Flower Color: White
Flower Time: Spring
Late spring or early summer
Uses: Windbreak or Hedge
Provides winter interest
Shade Tree
Flowering Tree
Will Naturalize
Edible Parts: Fruit
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Drought tolerant
Pollinators: Midges
Containers: Not suitable for containers
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil

Image
Common names
  • Hawthorn
  • British Hawthorn
  • May
  • Hawthorn Hedging
  • Singleseed Hawthorn
  • Oneseed Hawthorn
  • Whitethorn
  • Quickthorn
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Crataegus monogyna
  • Synonym: Crataegus azarella
  • Synonym: Crataegus apiifolia
  • Synonym: Crataegus leiomonogyna
  • Synonym: Mespilus monogyna

Photo Gallery

Date: 2022-11-17
Location: Morpeth, Northumberland UK
Date: 2023-09-27
Location: Morpeth, Northumberland UK
Date: 2023-09-27
Location: Botanical Garden of Barcelona
Date: 2019-04-22
Location: My Garden, UK
Location: Invercargill, New Zealand
Date: 2022-10-31
Not snow, but the blossom of Crataegus monogyna
Location: Oxfordshire, England
Date: 2016-05-20

Date: 2022-11-17
Location: Cedarhome, Washington
Date: 2016-05-10
Location: Oxfordshire, England
Date: 2017-05-06
Also called the May-tree
Location: Oxfordshire, England
Date: 2017-05-09

Date: 2022-11-01
Location: Botanical Garden Copenhagen
Date: 2016-12-01
Location: Botanical garden of Barcelona (Spain)
Date: 2022-04-16
Location: Morpeth, Northumberland UK
Date: 2018-05-25
A very common sign of Spring in the UK when the "May" is out
Location: nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2012-05-04

Photo by Leo Michels
Location: Botanical Garden of Barcelona
Date: 2019-04-22

Photo by Leo Michels
Location: Morpeth, Northumberland, UK
Date: 2016-05-06
New flower buds with last years' haws
Location: Hortus Lapidarius
Date: 2024-04-03
Location: nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2012-05-04

Date: 2022-11-01
Location: Botanical Garden Copenhagen
Date: 2016-12-01
Location: Nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2011-10-31
Location: Skaneateles Conservation Area
photo credit: R. A. Nonenmacher
Location: Lincolnshire, England, UK
Date: 22 September 2011
Hawthorn Berries

Photo by Leo Michels

Photo by Leo Michels
Location: Cedarhome, Washington
Date: 2013-05-23
Location: Nosterfield nature reserve
Date: 2017-11-18
Location: Morpeth, Northumberland UK
Date: 2018-05-25
A very common sign of Spring in the UK when the "May" is out
Location: nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2012-05-04
Location: nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2012-05-04
Location: nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2012-05-04
Location: nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2012-05-04
Uploaded by robertduval14
Location: Skaneateles Conservation Area
photo credit: R. A. Nonenmacher
Location: Skaneateles Conservation Area
photo credit: R. A. Nonenmacher
Location: Skaneateles Conservation Area
photo credit: R. A. Nonenmacher
Location: Skaneateles Conservation Area
photo credit: R. A. Nonenmacher
Comments:
  • Posted by okus (Lincolnshire, UK) on Sep 22, 2011 6:56 AM concerning plant:
    The true English/British Hawthorne, a fast growing, thorny British native deciduous hedging plant with dark glossy green leaves. In spring, clusters of prominent scented white flowers open within a few days of the initial buds appearing, followed by glossy red haws in autumn. These sustain native bird life. The Hawthorn leaves are bright green and tinged with red and make attractive deciduous hedges full of autumn colour.

    Traditionally layered as part of the autumn 'hedging and ditching' process, they make a dense impentrable, living stock-proof fence.They provide nesting habitat for birds and winter food as well as attracting bees in the spring.
  • Posted by skopjecollection (SE europe(balkans) - Zone 6b) on Nov 1, 2022 12:45 PM concerning plant:
    A thorny, often shrubby perennial plant, found in heath and in mountain meadows. Its unusually shaped leaves set it apart from any lookalikes, and the showy red berries are a give-away in autumn. Taste is that of a dry, almost sweet, oily avocado.
    Eating multiple fruits at one will give some sort of berry aftertaste in the mouth, similar to its tea.
  • Posted by Mindy03 (Delta KY) on Apr 1, 2012 3:33 PM concerning plant:
    Honey bees get nectar, yellow brown pollen and honeydew from this plant.
  • Posted by Bonehead (Planet Earth - Zone 8b) on Oct 2, 2013 1:41 PM concerning plant:
    Introduced to the Pacific Northwest from its native England, but now often included on PNW native listings. Found in the wild west of the Cascade Mountains from Alaska to California, and also widely distributed in eastern North America. There is apparently a true PNW native hawthorne that does not have lobed leaves, which I have never run across. This variety has thick leathery lobed leaves, white stinky flowers, sharp thorns, and small purple-red fruit with large seeds. Birds eat the fruit then plant the seeds. Not on an invasive list as far as I can tell.

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