Common hawthorn

Description

Common hawthorn is a much-branched, gnarled, thorny shrub or small tree of the rose family, growing from 2 to 10 metres tall. Its leaves are deeply lobed, and in late spring the flowers appear, white and gathered in corymbs, with a characteristic strong scent. In autumn it produces small red, globe-shaped fruits, berry-like, each containing a single stone, hence the scientific name monogyna.

Habitat and distribution

It is native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia. It grows at woodland edges, in hedgerows, pastures and on slopes, adapting to a great variety of soils, even poor and chalky. It is a pioneer plant and very long-lived: some specimens live for centuries.

Cultivation and uses

It is a hardy, tough shrub, among the most used for countryside hedges, often together with blackthorn. It wants full sun or part shade and tolerates drought, cold and pruning well. In herbal medicine hawthorn flowers and fruits have been used for centuries as a traditional remedy for cardiovascular wellbeing.

• Plant in a mixed hedge for barriers and windbreaks
• Tolerates hard pruning to control its shape
• Leave the fruit on the tree as winter food for birds

Value for wildlife

Hawthorn is one of the most important shrubs for biodiversity: the flowers attract many pollinating insects, the thorns offer safe shelter for birds' nests, and the fruits, known as haws, feed thrushes, blackbirds and other birds through the winter.