Leaves

Around 6cm long, obovate and comprised of toothed lobes, which cut at least halfway to the middle or ‘mid-rib’. They turn yellow before falling in autumn. The leaves are darker green on top and paler underneath.

Flowers

Hawthorns are hermaphrodite, meaning both male and female reproductive parts are contained within each flower. Flowers are highly scented, white or occasionally pink with five petals, numerous stamen, and grow in flat-topped clusters of 5 to 25. They appear in late spring (May to early June).

Seeds

Large (compared to the fruit), hard seeds. One per fruit.

Stem

Grey-brown, sometimes with a hint of orange sometimes visible in vertical cracks. Starting smooth in young trees, becoming scaly and heavily fissured with vertical grooves, which can be spiralled around the trunk.

Fruit

Once pollinated by insects, they develop into deep red fruits known as ‘haws’. The haw is a small, oval dark red fruit about 10mm long, berry-like, but botanically called a pome, containing a single seed.

Taste

Young leaves have a nutty flavour. The fruit is not unlike soft, over-ripe red apples.

Frequency & law

Very common and not restricted.

Possible confusion

Common hawthorn is closely related and similar to the less common Midland hawthorn (C. laevigata). Common hawthorn is more upright and the leaves are more deeply lobed. Common hawthorn flowers also only have a single style, so if you break open the fruit it will have only one seed, whereas midland hawthorn can have multiple styles, so you may find two or three seeds inside midland hawthorn fruit (a useful and key identification point). However, they are inter-fertile and hybrids occur frequently; they are only entirely distinct in their more typical forms.

Habitat

Native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. It has also been introduced in many other parts of the world. This species is commonly found growing in hedgerows, woodland and scrub. It will grow in most soils, and flowers and fruits best in full sun.

How to harvest

The leaves are generally used raw in spring, although for fried crisps they can still be used into summer. Flowers and unopened flower buds from spring into early summer, and the haws from late summer, through autumn, and sometimes into winter.

Cooking tips

Young hawthorn leaves flash-fried in oil make excellent crisps.

Other uses

Hawthorn timber is finely grained and very tough. It has been used in turnery and engraving, and was used to make veneers and cabinets, as well as boxes, and tool handles. It makes good firewood and charcoal, and burns at high temperatures.

Folklore

The old saying ‘Cast ne’er a clout ere May is out’ almost certainly refers to the opening of hawthorn flowers rather than the end of the month, and warns you not to put away your winter clothes until the Hawthorn flowers.