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Garden advice<\/a><\/li>
Trees<\/a><\/li>
Christmas trees<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>
Malus sylvestris<\/em> \u2013 Crab apple<\/h2>
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A favourite in gardens, the crab apple is prized for its spring blossom and autumn fruit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
One of the prettiest small trees there is, the crab apple<\/a> is more often seen in gardens than it is in the wild. Its compact size and two distinct seasons of interest make it suitable for small gardens: in spring it is covered in big white and pink blossom, and in autumn it bears beautiful miniature apples that can hang on the tree for months. However, it can still be found in relics of old oak woodlands and in sheltered spots on the edges of forests, as well as in hedgerows. It is an ancestor of the cultivated apple and can live for up to 100 years, becoming ever more gnarled and twisted as it ages. Lichens cover the branches of older trees and the crab apple i<\/a>s one of the few plants that plays host to mistletoe, so you may see evergreen bunches of this Christmas favourite in the branches once the leaves have fallen.<\/p>
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Bark<\/strong><\/h3>The rough, flecked, grey-brown bark cracks as it ages, the trunk grows gnarled and twisted, and the twigs can develop spines. $\"\"$ <\/li>
Leaves<\/strong><\/h3>Mid-green leaves are round to oval, with serrated edges and a pointed tip that leans to one side. They are borne alternately along the branch. $\"\"$ <\/li>
Flowers<\/strong><\/h3>The beautiful, simple, open blossom appears around April. The pink buds open to pure-white, five-petalled flowers with pink backs to the petals. It has a sweet scent that is attractive to insects. $\"\"$ <\/li>
Crab apples<\/strong><\/h3>Round, green, cherry-sized apples are produced in September and slowly ripen to yellow by around October. They are a good source of winter food for birds. $\"\"$ <\/li>
Silhouette<\/strong><\/h3>The crab apple grows to around 10m in height and has a wide, rounded, spreading canopy that is often open and irregular. It grows craggy, twisted and characterful with age. $\"\"$ <\/li>\n<\/ol>
Crataegus monogyna<\/em> \u2013 Hawthorn<\/h2>\n
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Hawthorn berries, known as haws, are brilliant for making jam and syrup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Hawthorn is one of the most common plants in the English countryside, and is most often seen as a hedge around permanent pasture. This is because it has been the principal plant of field enclosure since Tudor times, its dense, spiny growth making a perfect stock-proof hedge. It has several common names \u2013 hawthorn, quickthorn, whitethorn and May \u2013 the latter after the month in which it produces frothy white flowers, one of the spectacles of the natural year. It is also seen as a gnarled and characterful small tree, particularly in more remote areas. Leaves and flowers are sometimes added to salads, and the berries are used in jam making and to create syrup rich in vitamin C. There are many superstitions around hawthorn, and bringing branches into the house is associated with illness and death.<\/p>
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Bark<\/strong><\/h3>Very young stems have a reddish colour turning red-brown, with thorns protruding below the leaf joints and sometimes at the tips of the shoots. Older bark is brown, fissured and cracked. $\"\"$ <\/li>
Leaves<\/strong><\/h3>The small, bright-green leaves are as broad as they are long and deeply lobed, cut at least halfway to the central leaf rib. They turn buttery yellow in autumn. $\"\"$ <\/li>
Flowers <\/strong><\/h3>Small, white, five-petalled flowers appear after the leaves in May (an easy way to distinguish hawthorn from blackthorn). They have a strong and not particularly pleasant scent. $\"\"$ <\/li>
Berries<\/strong><\/h3>Around October, the dark-red haws mature in clusters. They are loved by birds, particularly in the later part of winter. $\"\"$ <\/li>
Silhouette<\/strong><\/h3>Most often grown as a thick hedge, but in remote spots it can be seen as a gnarled and twisted small tree with a spreading, uneven canopy. $\"\"$ <\/li>\n<\/ol>
Don’t miss The best wood for burning<\/a><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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Lia Leendertz explains how you can spot rowan, crab apple and hawthorn by learning the blossoms, fruits and nuts in British hedgerows. Photos Jason Ingram, illustrations Liam McAuley <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":25527,"template":"","categories":[1,51],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/how-to-identify-hawthorn-crab-apple-and-rowan-trees-scaled.jpg",1920,2560,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/how-to-identify-hawthorn-crab-apple-and-rowan-trees-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/how-to-identify-hawthorn-crab-apple-and-rowan-trees-225x300.jpg",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/how-to-identify-hawthorn-crab-apple-and-rowan-trees-768x1024.jpg",768,1024,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/how-to-identify-hawthorn-crab-apple-and-rowan-trees-768x1024.jpg",768,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/how-to-identify-hawthorn-crab-apple-and-rowan-trees-1152x1536.jpg",1152,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/how-to-identify-hawthorn-crab-apple-and-rowan-trees-1536x2048.jpg",1536,2048,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Lia Leendertz explains how you can spot rowan, crab apple and hawthorn by learning the blossoms, fruits and nuts in British hedgerows. Photos Jason Ingram, illustrations Liam McAuley","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/25526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}