Hawthorn

 Hawthorn (crataegus monogyna)

Hawthorn is a tree and that’s often used as a hedge. This plant is surrounded by folklore and legends there. 1 million different stories. I could tell you about this plant from witches not being able to fly over them so it’s used to protect livestock, to it being bad luck to have the flowers in the house because it brings death.

From an edible side, though Hawthorn has lots of uses, the young shooting leaves in the spring make a great addition to a salad or a wayside snack,  they’re an appetite suppressant so it’s nature's diet food. The flowers in May, which is where it gets its name, Mayflower from, can be eaten raw in salads and cakes or made into an almond flavoured syrup. In the autumn we get the beautiful red berries which are very high in pectin, which is great for using in fruit leathers, jams and jellies, you can use the pectin to reduce sugar content of jam, making it more healthy. Hawthorn is also very good for your heart. I can help lower blood pressure so you want to be careful if you are on blood pressure medication don’t overdo the Hawthorn

Identifying features for Hawthorn

• Hawthorn is either a tree or a hedge on the branches, have centimetre, long, thorns or spikes

• The leaves are lobed, there are often two or three sections to the lobe in the top section, and then two pairs of sticking out leaves. It looks like a teddy bear.

• The flowers are either white or pink, depending on the variety there about a centimetre across and have white petals with a creamy yellow centre, and they have quite a pungent smell of formaldehyde

• The flowers tend to cover the branches, and you can’t really see the leaves when they’re in flower (it’s beautiful)

• The berries are like little small apples, they’re red once they’re ripe, and they hang of a small, thin stem.  At the bottom of the berry, there are small leaves similar to that that you get on an apple. 

• Inside the berry is a large stone, the flesh is yellowish and quite thick and creamy.

If you have all of these features, it’s highly likely you have Hawthorn

Lookalikes for Hawthorn

Other varieties of Hawthorne but they’re also edible

Blackthorn put this has inch, long, thorns, darker bark and teardrop shaped leaves