British Plants and Flowers – Hawthorn

Name – Botanically speaking this is the Crataegus monogyna also known as Quickthorn, May and Whitethorn. The commonest name comes from the Anglo-Saxon haguthorn, from haga = hedge plus thorn.

Description – A hedge shrub or small tree with dark glossy green leaves, scented white flowers in May, small red haws in autumn.

Origin – This is a fast growing and extremely thorny deciduous native plant, which is tolerant of wet soils but is equally happy to cope with dry places and polluted air. The most common use for this tree or shrub in the past was as a hedging species because it makes an excellent stock barrier. For the gardener, as well as the pretty flowers, the value as a hedge and the red berries that remain after frost and snow, it’s worth noting that the shrub provides a good habitat for birds and many species of wildlife will eat the berries in the autumn. The wood is extremely tough and was often used for the cogs of wooden mill-wheels. The bark has been used in tanning, and the leaves as a substitute for tea – because Hawthorn was regarded as a valuable heart remedy as far back as the Middle Ages. It was also sacred from the earliest recorded history, pagans worshipped the tree, Celts used Hawthorn in May celebrations using it to dress maypoles and symbols that linked it with fertility, and early Christians believed it was the plant used to make the Crown of Thorns. Legend has it that between AD30-63 Joseph of Arimathea came to England and planted his hawthorn staff in Glastonbury soil. This became known as The Glastonbury Thorn.

British plant hawthorn photograph by D H Wright, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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