| Common Hawthorn | ||||||||||||||||
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| Crataegus monogyna Jacq. |
Crataegus monogyna, known as Common Hawthorn, is a species of hawthorn native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. Other common names include may, mayblossom, maythorn, quickthorn, whitethorn, motherdie, and haw. This species is one of several that have been referred to as Crataegus oxyacantha, a name that has been rejected by the botanical community as too ambiguous.
It is a broadly spreading shrub or small tree 5-14 m tall, with a dense crown. The bark is dull brown with vertical orange cracks. The younger stems bear sharp thorns, 1 to 1.5 cm long. The leaves are 2-4 cm long, obovate and deeply lobed, sometimes almost to the midrib, with the lobes spreading at a wide angle. The upper surface is dark green above and paler underneath.
The hermaphrodite flowers are produced in late spring (May to early June in its native area) in corymbs of 5-25 together; each flower is about 1 cm diameter, and has five white petals, numerous red stamens, and a single style; they are moderately fragrant. They are pollinated by midges and later in the year bear numerous haws. The haw is a small, oval dark red fruit about 1 cm long, berry-like, but structurally a pome containing a single seed. Haws are important for wildlife in winter, particularly thrushes and waxwings; these birds eat the haws and disperse the seeds in their droppings.
It is distinguished from the related but less widespread Midland Hawthorn (C. laevigata) in the leaves being deeply lobed, with spreading lobes, and in the flowers having just one style, not two or three. However they are inter-fertile and hybrids occur frequently; they are only entirely distinct in their more typical forms.
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Uses
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Common Hawthorn is extensively planted as a hedge plant, especially for agricultural use. Its spines and close branching habit render it effectively stock and human proof with some basic maintenance. The traditional practice of hedge laying is most commonly practiced with this species.
Numerous hybrids exist, some of which are used as garden shrubs. The most widely used hybrid is Crataegus × macrocarpa (C. monogyna × C. laevigata; syn. C. × media), of which several cultivars are known, including the very popular 'Paul's Scarlet' with dark pink double flowers. Other garden shrubs that have sometimes been suggested as possible hybrids involving the Common Hawthorn, include the Various-leaved Hawthorn of the Caucasus, which is only very occasionally found in parks and gardens.
In herbalism the active ingredients in flowers are: tannins, flavonoids, essential oil, triterpene-carbonic acids and purine derivatives. The fruits contain tannins, flavonoids, pigments and vitamins. An infusion of hawthorn is used to treat various heart and circulatory problems and to support digitalis therapy. The young leaves are good in salads. Various other uses are traditional in European herbalism[1].
A famous specimen, the Glastonbury Thorn, was noteworthy because it flowered twice in a year, once in the late spring which is normal, but also once after the harshness of midwinter has passed. The original specimen at Glastonbury Abbey, now long dead, has been propagated as the cultivar 'Biflora'.
The oldest known living specimen in East Anglia, and possibly in the United Kingdom, is known as "The Hethel Old Thorn",[2] and is located in the churchyard in the small village of Hethel, south of Norwich, in Norfolk. It is reputed to be more than 700 years old, having been planted in the 13th century.[2]
Edible berries
The haw is edible, but is commonly made into jellies, jams, and syrups rather than eaten whole. The fruit, called haws, are used to make wine, jelly and to add flavour to brandy. A haw is small and oblong, similar in size and shape to a small olive or grape. It is red when ripe and grows on hawthorns, which vary in size from a shrub to a small tree. Haws develop in groups of 2-3 along smaller branches. They are pulpy, with multiple seeds, and delicate in taste. Some people say to pick them when they are bright red and others say to wait until they are black and are about to fall apart.
On Manitoulin Island, they are called hawberries. They are common there thanks to its distinctive alkaline soil. During the pioneer days, white settlers ate these berries during the winter as the only remaining food supply. People born on the island are now called "haweaters".
In China, dried hawthorn fruits and especially haw flakes are eaten as candies. Hawthorn jelly and haw flakes are used to aid the digestion of meat in Chinese medicine.
Folklore
The warning to retain one's winter clothing until warm weather has arrived for good – 'n'er cast a clout 'til may is out' – refers not to the end of the month of May, but the emergence of the hawthorn ('may') flowers, the "May Blossom".[3][4]
Serbian folklore notes hawthorn (in Serbian glog) is particularly deadly to vampires, and stakes used for their slaying must be made from the wood of the thorn tree.
In Gaelic folklore, hawthorn (in Scottish Gaelic, Sgitheach and in Irish, sceach) 'marks the entrance to the otherworld' and is strongly associated with the fairies.[5] Lore has it that it is very unlucky to cut the tree at any time other than when it is in bloom, however during this time it is commonly cut and decorated as a May Bush (see Beltane).[6] This warning persists to modern times; it has been questioned by folklorist Bob Curran whether the ill luck of the De Lorean Motor Company was associated with the destruction of a fairy thorn to make way for a production facility.[7]
Hawthorn trees are often found beside clootie wells; at these types of holy wells they are sometimes known as 'rag trees', for the strips of cloth which are tied to them as part of healing rituals.[8] 'When all fruit fails, welcome haws' was once a common expression in Ireland.
References
- ^ http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/hawtho09.html| Ed Greenwood 1995, Electronic version of A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs & Trees with their Modern Scientific Uses, by Mrs. M. Grieve, first published 1931.
- ^ a b "Hethel Old Thorn" from The Wildlife Trusts, UK. Accessed 18 February, 2007
- ^ "Scuil Wab: Wird O The Month - Mey". Scottish Language Dictionaries. 2003. http://www.scuilwab.org.uk/WirdOTheMonth/May2004.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out". The Phrase Finder. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/till-may-is-out.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ Campbell, John Gregorson (1900, 1902, 2005) The Gaelic Otherworld. Edited by Ronald Black. Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 1-84158-207-7 p.345
- ^ Danaher, Kevin (1972) The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs Dublin, Mercier. ISBN 1-85635-093-2 pp.86-127
- ^ Monaghan, Patricia (2004-03-11). The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog: The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit. New World Library. pp. 67. ISBN 978-1577314585.
- ^ Healy, Elizabeth (2002) In Search of Ireland's Holy Wells. Dublin, Wolfhound Press ISBN 0-86327-865-5 pp.56-7, 69, 81
See also
External links
- Crataegus monogyna in Topwalks
- Hawthorn Gallery (photographs of a number of such trees, including Hethel Old Thorn)
- Hawthorn
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