A hawthorn whose haws contain two seeds rather than one and whose flowers have twin styles
Midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata).
Nature · Trees
Midland hawthorn
Native · deciduous shrub or small tree, to 8 m · flowers from mid-April · ancient woods and clay hedgebanks
Crataegus laevigata — Rosaceae
The woodland cousin of common hawthorn, Midland hawthorn favours ancient woodland, shady old woods and hedgebanks on clay south of the Humber. It flowers one to two weeks earlier than common hawthorn and has only shallowly lobed leaves, twin styles and twin-seeded haws. Its cut flowers smelled so foul that medieval people compared them to the Great Plague.
How to know it
How to spot them
- ▸Shallowly lobed leaves cut less than halfway to the midrib, glossy dark green, 2–6 cm
- ▸Two stigmas in each flower, and two seeds in each red haw
- ▸Flowers creamy-white, sometimes pink or red, from mid-April, one to two weeks before common hawthorn
- ▸Spines emerge from the same point as the buds
- ▸Ancient woods and hedgebanks on clay, mostly south of the Humber
How to know it
A hawthorn with shallowly lobed leaves and shiny green foliage, flowering one to two weeks before its commoner cousin
Midland hawthorn.
The scent of its cut flowers reminded medieval people of the Great Plague
Midland hawthorn.
A thorny shrub of clay ancient woods and old hedgebanks, most common south of the Humber
Midland hawthorn.
Probably the more common of the two hawthorns in the Middle Ages, now rarer as its habitats have been lost
Midland hawthorn.
Its fluted stems are used for tool handles and walking sticks; its haws make jelly and wine
Midland hawthorn.
Quick-fire facts
- •Crataegus laevigata: laevigata means smooth
- •Woodland Trust: grows best in ancient woodland, shady old woods and hedgebanks on clay soils
- •Most common in central and southern England south of the Humber; uncommon in Wales, Scotland, south-west England and East Anglia
- •Flowers one to two weeks earlier than common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
- •Twin stigmas and twin-seeded haws separate it from common hawthorn, whose haws hold one seed
- •Leaves are cut less than halfway to the midrib, unlike the deeply lobed leaves of common hawthorn
- •In the Middle Ages it was probably the commoner species
- •Haws feed thrushes and yellowhammers; it is vulnerable to fireblight
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Sources
- Woodland Trust — Midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata)