Spikes On Hawthorn Berries – Fruits of four different species of Crataegus (clockwise from top left: C. coccinea, C. punctata, C. ambigua and C. douglasii)
Mayflower, or hawberry, is a genus of several hundred species of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae,
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Spikes On Hawthorn Berries
Native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America. The name “hawthorn” was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe, particularly the common hawthorn C. monogyna, and the unmodified name is commonly used in Great Britain and Ireland. The name is now also used for the common goshawk and the related Asian goshawk Rhaphiolepis.
Sacred Tree Profile: Hawthorn (lore, Medicine, Magic, And Mystery)
The Geric epithet, Crataegus, is derived from the Greek kratos “strgth” because of the great strength of the tree and akis “sharp”, and refers to the thorns of some species.
The name haw, originally an old English term for hedge (from the Anglo-Saxon term hounghorn, “a fce with thorns”),
With small stone fruit and (usually) thorny branches. The most common type of bark is smooth gray in young individuals, developing shallow longitudinal fissures with narrow ridges in older trees. Thorns are small, sharp-tipped branches that arise either from other branches or from the trunk, and are typically 1–3 cm (1 ⁄2–1 in) long (recorded as up to
). The leaves grow spirally on long shoots, and in clusters on spur shoots on the branches or twigs. The leaves of most species have lobed or jagged edges and are somewhat variable in shape. The fruit, sometimes known as a “haw,” is berry-like, but structurally a core containing from one to five pits resembling the “stones” of plums, peaches, etc., which are grape-like fruits in the same subfamily.
Hawthorn Tree Care
The number of species in gus depends on taxonomic interpretation. Some botanists previously recognized 1,000 or more species,
Gus probably first appeared in the Eoce, with its ancestral range probably eastern North America and in Europe, which at the time remained closely connected due to the North Atlantic land bridge. The earliest known leaves of gus date from the Eoce of North America, with the earliest leaves from Europe dating from the Oligoce.
Hawthorn provides food and shelter for many species of birds and mammals, and the flowers are important for many nectar-feeding insects. Hawthorn is also used as a food plant by the larvae of a large number of Lepidoptera species, such as the small egg moth, E. lanestris. Haystacks are important for wildlife in winter, especially thrushes and waxwings; these birds eat haws and spread the seeds in their droppings.
The “Haws” or fruits of the common hawthorn, C. monogyna, are edible. In the UK they are sometimes used to make a jelly or homemade wine.
A Complete Guide To Washington Hawthorn Trees
The leaves are edible and if picked in the spring, still young, should be used in salads.
The young leaves and flower buds, which are also edible, are known as “bread and cheese” in rural glanders.
In the southern United States, fruits of three native species are collectively known as mayhaws and made into a jelly that is considered a delicacy. The Kutai people of northwestern North America used red and black hawthorn fruit for food.
On Manitoulin Island, Ontario, some red-fruited species are called hawthorn. During colonization, European settlers ate these fruits in winter as the only remaining food supply. People born on the island are now called “haweaters”.
Crataegus Alabamensis (alabama Hawthorn, Hawthorn, Thornapple)
The fruits of Crataegus mexicana are known in Mexico as tejocotes and are eaten raw, cooked or in jam in winter. They are stuffed into piñatas during the traditional pre-Christmas celebration known as Las Posadas. They are also cooked with other fruit to prepare a Christmas punch. The mixture of tejocote paste, sugar and chili powder produces a popular Mexican candy called rielitos, which is produced by several brands.
The 4 cm fruits of the species Crataegus pinnatifida (Chinese hawthorn) are tart, bright red and resemble small crabapple fruits. They are used to make many types of Chinese snacks, including haw flakes and are coated with sugar syrup and put on a stick tanghulu. The fruits, called 山楂 shān zhā in Chinese, are also used to produce jam, jelly, juice, alcoholic beverages and other beverages; these can in turn be used in other dishes (for example, many older recipes for Cantonese sweet and sour sauce call for shānzhā jam). In South Korea, a liquor called sansachun (산사춘) is made from the fruits.
In Iran, the fruits of Crataegus (including Crataegus azarolus var. aronia, as well as other species) are known as zâlzâlak and are eaten raw as a snack, or made into a jam known by the same name.
A 2008 Cochrane Collaboration meta-analysis of previous studies concluded that evidence exists of “a significant benefit in symptom control and physiological outcomes” for an extract of hawthorn used as an adjunct in the treatment of chronic heart failure.
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Concluded that “Crataegus [hawthorn] preparations have considerable potential efficacy as a useful agent in the treatment of cardiovascular disease”. The review indicated the need for further study of the best doses and concluded that although “many different theoretical interactions between Crataegus and orthodox medicines have been postulated … none have [yet] been substantiated.
Several species of hawthorn have been used in traditional medicine. The products used are often derived from C. monogyna, C. laevigata or related Crataegus species, “collectively known as hawthorn”, not necessarily distinguishing between these species.
The dried fruits of Crataegus pinnatifida (called shān zhā in Chinese) are used in traditional Chinese medicine, primarily as a digestive aid. A closely related species, Crataegus cuneata (Japanese hawthorn, called sanzashi in Japanese) is used in a similar way. Other species (especially Crataegus laevigata) are used in herbal medicine where the plant is believed to strengthen cardiovascular function.
The Kutai people of northwestern North America used black hawthorn fruit (Kutai language: kaǂa; approximate pronunciation: kasha) for food, and red hawthorn fruit (Kutai language: ǂupǂi; approximate pronunciation: shupshi) in traditional medicine.
Thornless Hawthorn Trees
Many species and hybrids are used as ornamental and street trees. The common hawthorn is used to a large extent in Europe as a hedge plant. During the British Agricultural Revolution of the eighth and ninth centuries, hawthorn plants were mass propagated in nurseries to create the new field boundaries required by the Inclosure Acts.
Several cultivars of Midland hawthorn C. laevigata have been selected for their pink or red flowers. Hawthorn is among the trees most recommended for water conserving landscapes.
Hawthorn can be used as a rootstock in the practice of grafting. It is graft compatible with Mespilus (medlar), and with pear, and gives a harder rootstock than quince, but the hawthorn’s thorny sucking habit can be problematic.
Seedlings of Crataegus monogyna have been used to graft several species onto the same trunk, such as pink hawthorn, pear tree and medlar, resulting in trees that produce pink and white flowers in May and fruit in summer. “Chipknopp” has also been carried out on hawthorn trunks in order to have branches of several varieties on the same tree. Such trees can be seen in Vigo, Spain, and northwest France (mainly in Brittany).
Blackthorn Hawthorn Rowan Protection Collection Thorns
The Scots saying “Ne’er cast a cloot to Mey’s oot” conveys a warning not to throw any cloots (clothes) until summer has fully arrived and the Mayflowers (hawthorn flowers) are in full bloom.
The custom of using the flowering branches for decorative purposes on May 1st is of very early origin, but since the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752, the tree has rarely been in full glandular flower before the second week of that month. In the Scottish Highlands the flowers can be seen as late as mid-June. The hawthorn has been regarded as the emblem of hope, and its branches are stated to have been carried by the ancient Greeks in wedding processions, and to have been used by them to cover the altar of Hymaios. The assumption that the tree was the source of Jesus’ crown of thorns doubtless gave rise to the tradition among the Frch peasantry (current as late as 1911) of uttering groans and cries on Good Friday, and probably also to the old folk superstition of Great Britain and Ireland. on the lifting of hawthorn. Branches of Glastonbury thorn (C. monogyna ‘Biflora’,
Sometimes called C. oxyacantha var. praecox), which blooms both in December and in spring, was formerly highly valued in gland, owing to the legend that the tree was originally the staff of Joseph of Arimathea.
Traces and reinterprets many European legends and myths in which the hawthorn (hawthorn), also called the May tree, is central.
The Perfect Time To Put Down Roots
Together with yew and apple. It was once said to heal a broken heart. In Ireland, the red fruit is or was called Johnny MacGorey or Magory.
Serbian folklore that spread across the Balkans notes that hawthorn (Serbian глог or glog) is essential for killing vampires, and stakes used to kill them must be made from the thorn tree.
In Gaelic folklore, hawthorn (in Scottish Gaelic, sgitheach and in Irish, sceach) marks the ‘trance to the other world’ and is strongly associated with the fairies.
Lore has it that it is very