{"id":32404,"date":"2023-11-13T15:36:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T14:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abcce336-0182-4954-9210-4b40205043ed"},"modified":"2023-11-13T16:39:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T15:39:21","slug":"hawthorn-tree-guide-berry-blossom-and-why-its-called-the-may-tree","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/hawthorn-tree-guide-berry-blossom-and-why-its-called-the-may-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawthorn tree guide: berry, blossom and why it’s called the May tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learn all about the hawthorn tree, including what its leaves, blossom and berries look like, and why it is referred to as the May tree. <\/p>

By Kevin Parr\n <\/p>

Published: Monday, 13 November 2023 at 14:36 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Though a single tree may grow to 12m (40ft), hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna<\/em>) is most often found tightly packed in our hedgerows<\/a>. Its dense, fast-growing branches have long been recognised as a perfect natural barrier, and some 200,000 miles of hawthorn hedges are estimated to have been planted during the 18th and 19th centuries.<\/p>

Find out more about the hawthorn tree with our 60-second guide.<\/p>

British tree guide<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A year in the life of a hawthorn tree\/Credit: Woodland Trust<\/figcaption><\/figure><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/><h2>How to identify the hawthorn tree<\/h2><h3 id=\"h-hawthorn-blossom\">Hawthorn blossom<\/h3><p>As our winters shorten, so the white flowers of the hawthorn dazzle ever earlier each spring, and though we still refer to May blossom, in some parts of the country, the petals are no more than a browning carpet when the month itself finally arrives.<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/trees-plants\/how-to-identify-spring-blossom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Guide to spring blossom<\/a><\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hawthorn blossom in springtime\/Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/><h3>Hawthorn and wildlife<\/h3><p>In spring the hawthorn is prime avian real estate. The twists of fissured bark and stiffened, unyielding thorns create perfect nesting habitat for small birds, safe from the beaks of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/birds\/british-crow-guide-how-to-identify-each-species-and-where-to-see\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">corvids<\/a> and too tight for a female <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/where-to-see\/guide-to-cuckoos-where-to-see-in-britain-and-why-the-species-is-in-decline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cuckoo<\/a> to sneak in and lay her deceit. A weasel or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/adder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">adder<\/a> might be lithe enough to snake through the tangled mass, but larger mammals, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/mammals\/fox-guide-behaviour-mating-diet-identification\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">foxes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/mammals\/pine-marten-guide-how-to-identify-where-to-see-in-britain-and-other-facts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">martens<\/a> and pet cats can do nothing but wait until the young birds fledge.<\/p><p>Almost as soon as they unfurl, the leaves will be alive with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/insects-invertebrates\/caterpillars\">caterpillars<\/a> – many moth species are almost wholly dependant upon the hawthorn. The flowers provide pollen for insects such as bees, but also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/mammals\/9-fascinating-facts-about-dormice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dormice<\/a> who will not long have risen from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/hibernation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hibernation<\/a>.<\/p><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/><h3>Hawthorn leaves and berries<\/h3><p>Unlike the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/trees-plants\/blackthorn-guide-how-to-identify-folklore-blossom-sloes-uses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blackthorn<\/a>, the leaves of hawthorn \u2013 which are deep-lobed, shiny and green \u2013\u00a0appear before the blossom. Later in the year, as summer gives way to autumn, red berries appear, ripening and deepening in colour through to the winter.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn all about the hawthorn tree, including what its leaves, blossom and berries look like, and why it is referred to as the May tree. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Learn all about the hawthorn tree, including what its leaves, blossom and berries look like, and why it is referred to as the May tree.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/32404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}