Hawthorn Tree Berries Winter – Information May Be Outdated The information on this page was originally published on December 19, 2007. It may not be out of date, but please search our site for more up-to-date information. If you plan to quote or refer to this information in a publication, please check with the specialist or author before proceeding.
Sometimes we take native plants for granted and forget the unique attributes they bring to the landscape. An example is the parsley-leaved hawthorn.
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Hawthorn Tree Berries Winter
My office is located at Hinds Community College, and the campus here is a virtual arboretum. Every tree and shrub seems to be part of a plan, and the winter color of the berry-producing plants was definitely in the design.
Common (english) Hawthorn Identification And Control: Crataegus Monogyna
For more than 12 years now, I have admired the marbled hawthorns on campus. Botanically speaking, they are Crataegus marshallii, at least according to most references and US Department of Agriculture websites. Just to keep us on our toes, it was probably replaced by Crataegus apifolia.
The name tells you that the leaves look like parsley – not the curly type, but the regular version. In spring, this member of the rose family bears a blanket of snow-white flowers with long, delicate stamens topped with pink anthers.
Let me just say they are beautiful, and that’s just spring. I challenge you to find a small tree with more red fruit in the fall and winter than the blue-veined hawthorn. They are carried by the thousands and make the tree visible from afar while the sun shows off their dazzling color.
Birds eat the fruit, but I also noticed that each tree has a top growth of twigs which is perfect for birds to nest on. It’s kind of like a one-stop-shop for birds — the house and a grocery store.
Audubon® Washington Hawthorn Tree For Sale
Parsley-leaved hawthorn is native from Texas to Florida and as far north as Illinois, Kentucky, and Virginia, with most references suggesting it’s cold hardy in zones 4 or 5 through 9.
The trees have a beautiful structure, usually with two or three trunks that branch into several scaffolds. Older trees have interesting exfoliating bark. They can reach 25 feet tall and 25 feet wide, but most I see are closer to 15 feet tall and not as wide.
It is found in a variety of soils, from acidic to slightly alkaline and from well-drained to somewhat boggy. If you are able to find one at a nursery that specializes in natives, choose a planting site with partial sun or morning sun and afternoon shade and fertile, well-drained soil. This will provide you with a specimen worthy of a photograph.
Also know that their need for water, once established, is considered medium-low. It’s nice considering the sparse rainfall we’ve had each year.
Hawthorn Tree Care
While they can certainly stand alone, a location with a backdrop of evergreens puts on an even better show. This is probably one of those situations where opposites attract because the opposite of red is green.
Over the years I have told you about great plants from all over the world. This time, however, it’s the one we drive all the time and take for granted. It’s time for us to bring some of these natives back into our landscapes, and the parsley-leaved hawthorn is definitely worth considering. in the Pacific Northwest. This small tree spreads easily by seed in woods and open fields, often creating a dense, thorny thicket. Its abundant red berries attract birds and other animals, helping to spread this tree far beyond where it is planted.
In King County, Washington, common hawthorn is classified as an unregulated noxious weed and control is recommended in natural areas that are restored to native vegetation and in protected forest lands and wilderness areas. Common hawthorn can also be a pest species in pastures and wildlife grazing. areas and its removal from these areas is also recommended. This species is not on Washington’s quarantine list and there are no restrictions on its sale or use in landscaping. For more information, see noxious weed lists and laws or visit the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Council website.
Common hawthorn is carried by birds into forests and open fields where it can form dense, thorny thickets that outcompete native species and make it difficult for large animals to pass. Somewhat shade and drought tolerant, common hawthorn invades both open fields and forests in Washington, Oregon and California. Common hawthorn has become naturalized on both coasts of North America and in many central and eastern states of the United States, as well as parts of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Although more common west of the Cascades, common hawthorn has also spread to eastern Washington.
Using Georgia Native Plants: September 2013
Common hawthorn is generally a forest understory species in its native range, but in our region it grows well in a wide range of habitats. Riparian areas, abandoned fields and pastures, shrublands and grasslands, oak forests, and other forest habitats are all vulnerable to invasion.
Introduced beginning in the 1800s, common hawthorn seems to have begun to spread first in Oregon and southern Washington state. Mounted specimens were collected in Oregon in the early 1900s, and a collection from Wahkiakum County, Washington in 1927 notes that the species was generally established along roadsides. For more information on the distribution of the common hawthorn, see the UW Burke Museum website.
Please note that this and other hawthorn species are legal for sale and planting in Washington.
Some of the photos on this page are courtesy of Ben Legler. Please do not use these images without permission from the photographer. Other photos not otherwise labeled may be used for educational purposes, but please credit King County Noxious Weed Control Program.
Alys Fowler: Help To Feed The Birds This Winter
Program offices are located at 201 S. Jackson St., Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98104. To contact staff, see the Noxious Weed Control Program Directory, email, or call 206-477-WEED (206 -477-9333) Green hawthorn (cultivar ‘Winter King’) produces red fruits in the fall. Photo: M. Talabac, University of Maryland
Sun/Shade: Native species grows in partial to full shade; ‘Winter King’ cultivar grows in filtered shade to full sun
GARDEN USES: Green hawthorn, also called southern thorn (Crataegus viridis), is native to the southeastern United States, including the coastal plain of Maryland. Its natural habitat includes lowland areas, valleys, and swamps, with moderately moist soil and full to partial shade.
The cultivated variety, Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’, tolerates full sun and adapts very well to a variety of soil conditions, including those that are compacted and sometimes dry. It tolerates air pollution and is a good choice for urban areas. ‘Winter King’ has small, inconspicuous spines, unlike the straight species which can have spines up to 1.5 inches long.
Plants With Colorful Winter Fruit For The Midwest
Green hawthorn offers several seasons of interest: showy white flowers in spring, attractive scarlet-red foliage in fall, and small fruits that turn orange-red in fall and may persist on the tree into winter. The berries are edible but are not considered high quality for human consumption. On mature trees, patches of gray outer bark break off to reveal orange inner bark.
Fauna: Green hawthorn flowers provide nectar for adult bees and butterflies. A variety of songbirds and small mammals eat the fruit.
Dirr, Michael. 1998. Handbook of woody landscape plants: their identification, ornamental characteristics, cultivation, propagation and uses, fifth edition.
Slattery, Britt E., et. al. 2005. Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, Chesapeake Bay Field Office, Annapolis, MD. 82 pp. Those of you who are regular readers of this little column probably know that I am no stranger to kayaking, and have been snorkeling inside a kayak on several botanical excursions (all my excursions end up being botanical) in a variety of wet situations.
Why Hawthorn Is The Best Tree To Plant In Small Gardens
I’ve also been known to paddle a kayak on a cold winter day, which isn’t usually my style, as I’m much more of a fan of summer, hot as it gets. Nevertheless, even I will admit that there is something to be said for looking at the wonderful world around us on one of those short cool days.
So there I was recently cruising the waters of an oxbow lake associated with our own Congaree River here in central South Carolina on a cool, partly cloudy January afternoon. Most of the foliage is long gone, of course, although there are a fair number of evergreens scattered around the swamp. Thus, the kayaker is faced largely with a continuous and varied palette of gray and brown, the bare floodplain trees. And then, suddenly, this!
I have to tell you, I gasped as we rounded a bend, and then this wonderful shrub…a small tree, actually…appeared. He almost seemed to be on fire, standing out against the grayness that surrounded him. I should also tell you up front that this is a native species of hawthorn—green hawthorn,