Common Name: Type: Family: Native Range: Zone: Height: Spread: Bloom Time: Bloom Description: Sun: Water: Maintenance: Suggested Use: Flower: Leaf: Attracts: Fruit: Other: Tolerate: |
Black hawthorn Tree Crataegus viridis Rosaceae United States 3 to 9 10.00 to 25.00 feet 10.00 to 25.00 feet May to June White Full sun Medium to wet Medium Hedge Showy, Fragrant Good Fall Birds, Butterflies Showy, Edible Thorns Drought, Erosion |
Grow in moist to wet soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist soils, but also tolerates drier upland soils. Best fruit production occurs in full sun. Prune if necessary in late winter. Will sucker to form thickets. Crataegus douglasii, commonly known as black hawthorn, typically matures over time as a small upright tree to 20-30′ tall featuring dense clusters of white flowers in spring, edible fruits that mature to black in late summer and a spreading rounded crown of branches (young twigs red) clad with attractive green leaves and sharp thorns. It also sometimes grows as a much shorter bushy thicket-forming shrub. It is native to wetlands, open moist places, bluffs and slopes, meadows, ditches and along streams. Fragrant, five-petaled, white flowers (to 1/2″ diameter) with cup-shaped bases bloom in flat-topped clusters (10-12 flowered corymbs) rising from the leaf axils and branch ends in mid to late spring (May-early June). Flowers have an unpleasant fragrance which tends to attract pollinators such as midges and butterflies. Flowers are followed by abundant, globular, red fruits (to 1/2″ diameter) which ripen to black in late summer. Fruits are edible and commonly called haws. Fruits usually drop to the ground in late fall, but may persist on the tree in a shriveled raisin-like form. Shiny, sometimes mildly lobed, leathery, ovate to obovate leaves (to 3-5″ long) with saw-toothed margins (primarily above the leaf midpoint) are dark green above and pale green underneath. Fall color is usually insignificant, but sometimes surprises with showy tones of red, orange and yellow. Branches are armed with stout spines to 1″ long. Rough scaly gray bark develops on older trees. Genus name comes from the Greek word krataigos meaning thorn tree or kratos meaning strength. Specific epithet is in reference to Scottish botanist David Douglas (1798-1834) who discovered this plant in his North American explorations (Douglas fir is also named after him). Crataegus is a large genus containing over 200 species. The name hawthorn comes from an Anglo-Saxon word haguthorn which means fence with thorns. Cedar-hawthorn rust, cedar-quince rust, fireblight, fungal leaf spots, powdery mildew, cankers and apple scab are occasional problems. Insect pests include borers, caterpillars, lacebugs, leafminers and scale. Falling fruit can create clean-up problems in fall. Attractive flowers, foliage and fruit. Small flowering landscape tree for lawns or streets. Native plant areas. Specimen, small groups or screen. May be pruned as a hedge. Hedgerows. Erosion control. |
Information on this page is from Missouri Botanical Gardens, Dave’s Garden, All things Plants, Texas Superstar or Aggie Horticulture |
This page last updated or reviewed [210802]