Toba Hawthorn Berries – Fruit 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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Toba Hawthorn Berries
Native to the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere of Europe, Asia, northern Africa and North America. The name “buckthorn” was originally applied to species native to northern Europe, especially the common hawthorn C. monogyna, and the unmodified name is often used in Great Britain and Ireland. The name is now also applied to the tire gus and the related Asiatic gus Rhaphiolepis.
Tree Identification: Crataegus Laevigata
The generic epithet, Crataegus, is derived from the Greek kratos “Strength” due to the great strength of the wood and akis “sharp”, referring to the spines of some species.
The name haw, originally an Old Glish term for hedge (from the Anglo-Saxon term haunghorn, “a fce with thorns”),
With small pip fruits and (usually) spiny 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 from other branches or from the trunk, and are usually 1 to 3 cm (1 ⁄2 -1 in) long
). The leaves grow spirally arranged on long shoots, and in clusters on spur shoots on branches or twigs. The leaves of most species have lobed or serrated margins and are somewhat variable in shape. The fruit, sometimes known as a “haw”, is berry-like but structurally a knob containing one to five pyres that resemble the “stones” of plums, peaches, etc., which are drupaceous fruits of the same subfamily.
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The number of gus species depends on the taxonomic interpretation. Some botanists in the past recognized 1000 or more species,
Gus probably first appeared in the Eocene, with the ancestral area probably being eastern North America and Europe, which at the time remained closely linked due to the North Atlantic land bridge. The oldest known leaves of gus come from the Eocene of North America, with the earliest leaves from Europe being from the Oligocene.
Hawthorns provide food and shelter for many species of birds and mammals, and the flowers are important to many nectar-feeding insects. Hawthorns are also used as food plants by the larvae of a large number of Lepidoptera species, such as the small egg moth, E. lanestris. Haws are important for winter wildlife, especially thrushes and waxwings; these birds eat the haws and disperse 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 homemade jam or wine.
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The leaves are edible and, if picked in the spring while still young, are easier to use in salads.
The young leaves and flower buds, which are also edible, are known as “bread and cheese” in the rural gland.
In the southern United States, the fruits of three native species are collectively known as mayhaws and are made into a jelly that is considered a delicacy. The Kutai people of northwestern North America used red and black hawthorn berries for food.
On Manitoulin Island, Ontario, some species of red fruit are called strawberries. During colonization, European settlers ate these fruits during the winter as the only remaining food supply. People born on the island are now called “haweaters”.
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The fruits of Crataegus mexicana are known in Mexico as tejocotes and are eaten raw, cooked or in jam during the winter. They are stuffed into brok piñatas during the traditional pre-Christmas celebration known as Las Posadas. They are also cooked with other fruits to prepare a Christmas punch. Mixing tejocote paste, sugar, and chili powder produces a popular Mexican sweet called rielitos, which is made by several brands.
The 4 cm fruits of the species Crataegus pinnatifida (Chinese hawthorn) are bitter, bright red and resemble small apple fruits. They are used to make many types of Chinese snacks, including haw flakes and being coated in sugar syrup and placed on a tanghulu stick. The fruits, which are called 山楂 shān zhā in Chinese, are also used to produce jams, jellies, juices, alcoholic beverages and other beverages; these in turn could be used in other dishes (for example, many old 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 there is evidence of “a significant advantage in symptom control and physiological outcomes” for a hawthorn extract used as an adjunct in the treatment of chronic heart failure.
Berries Crataegus Oxyacantha, Which Is Also Known As Hawthorn. Berries Are In The White Cup, Isolated Over White Background. Stock Photo
Concluded that “Crataegus [buckthorn] preparations have significant potential as a useful remedy in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.” The review indicated the need for further study of the best dosages and concluded that while “many different theoretical interactions between Crataegus and orthodox medicines have been postulated… [yet] none have been proven.
Several species of hawthorn have been used in traditional medicine. The products used are often derived from C. monogyna, C. laevigata or related species of Crataegus, “collectively known as hawthorn”, which do not necessarily distinguish these species.
The dried fruits of Crataegus pinnatifida (called shān zhā in Chinese) are used in traditional Chinese medicine, mainly as a digestive aid. A closely related species, Crataegus cuneata (Japanese buckthorn, 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.
Hawthorn — Wild Foods And Medicines
Many species and hybrids are used as ornamental and street trees. Hawthorn is used extensively in Europe as a hedge plant. During the British Agricultural Revolution in the eighth and nineteenth centuries, hawthorn seedlings were propagated en masse in nurseries to create the new field boundaries required by the Acts of Inclusion.
Several cultivars of Midland hawthorn C. laevigata have been selected for their pink or red flowers. Hawthorns are among the most recommended trees for water conservation landscapes.
Hawthorn can be used as a rootstock in the practice of grafting. It is graft compatible with Mespilus (medlar) and pear, and makes a hardier rootstock than quince, but the hawthorn’s prickly sucking habit can be problematic.
Crataegus monogyna seedlings have been used to graft several species onto the same trunk, such as rose hawthorn, pear and medlar, resulting in trees that bear pink and white flowers in May and fruit during the summer. “Chip budding” has also been done on hawthorn trunks to have branches of several varieties on the same tree. Such trees can be seen in Vigo, Spain, and in northwestern France (mainly in Brittany).
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The Scots saying “Ne’er cast a cloot til Mey’s oot” conveys a warning not to throw away any cloot (clothes) before summer arrives and the Mayflowers (hawthorn flowers) are in full bloom.
The custom of using the flowering branches for decorative purposes on the 1st of May is of very early origin, but since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752, the tree has rarely been in full bloom in the gland before the second week of that month. In the Scottish Highlands, flowers can appear as late as mid-June. The hawthorn was considered the emblem of hope, and its branches are said to have been carried by the ancient Greeks in wedding processions, and to have been used by them to decorate the altar of Himaeus. The assumption that the tree was the source of Jesus’ crown of thorns undoubtedly gave rise to the tradition among the French peasantry (up to 1911) of groaning and shouting on Good Friday, and probably also to the old popular superstition in Great Britain and Ireland that bad luck caused the hawthorns to be uprooted. Branches of Glastonbury hawthorn (C. monogyna ‘Biflora’,
Sometimes called C. oxyacantha var. praecox), which blooms both in December and spring, were formerly highly prized in the gland, owing to the fact that the tree was originally the staff of Joseph of Arimathea.
Traces and reinterprets many European legends and myths in which the hawthorn (thorn), also called may, is central.
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Along with yew and apple. It was once said to heal the broken heart. In Ireland, the red fruit is called, or was, Johnny MacGorey or Magory.
Serbian folklore that spread through the Balkans notes that the hawthorn (in Serbian глог or glog) is essential for killing vampires, and the stakes used for their killing must be made from hawthorn wood.
In Gaelic folklore, the hawthorn (Scottish Gaelic sgitheach and Irish sceach) “marks the transition to the other world” and is strongly associated with fairies.
Lore says it’s very