Kansas hawthorn

Photo: Étienne Lacroix-Carignan — CC0 · source

Survives zone 4 through 7

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

A dry-hillside, limestone-loving hawthorn of the American midwest, tolerant enough of pollution and poor urban soil that it's used as a street tree within its native range.

Hardiness

Zone 4–7

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Sept–Oct

Mature size

Small tree to 7 m (20 ft), sometimes shrubby

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil pH

6.0–7.5 (neutral to mildly alkaline) — thrives on limestone

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Central and eastern North America — primarily Kansas and the Midwest, with an eastern outpost in the western hills of Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and into southernmost Ontario and Quebec.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

5–8 yrs from seed; grafted trees often flower heavily in their third year

Growth speed

30–60 cm/year — medium, the 12–24 in/year quoted across the genus.

Spacing

500 cm (197 in) apart — about 25 m² (269 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Ovate to nearly round, 5–11 cm long by 3.5–5 cm wide, toothed to shallowly lobed margins, leathery texture

Root system

Seedlings put down a distinct taproot early, which is why nurseries lift them after a single year in the seedbed; established trees add a tough, wide-spreading lateral network and transplant badly once mature.

Fruit description

Nearly globe-shaped pomes 12–18 mm across, medium-large for the genus, ripening pink-red under a waxy bloom that polishes off to reveal bright red beneath; soft-fleshed and among the better hawthorns for eating.

Propagation

Seed is slow and stubborn — the stony nutlets need roughly three months warm stratification followed by three months cold at about 4°C, and untreated seed can sit for two winters before moving. Named forms are budded or grafted onto seedling hawthorn rootstock instead, which also brings fruiting forward by several years.

Pollination

Depends on ploidy, which is rarely known for a given plant: diploid hawthorns are self-INCOMPATIBLE and need a second tree, while the many polyploid (triploid/tetraploid) species are self-compatible and largely apomictic, setting seed from a lone tree without cross-pollination. C. crus-galli is among the self-compatible polyploids. Insect-pollinated, chiefly by flies and beetles drawn to the heavy scent. ⚠ Since you usually cannot tell which you have, plant more than one if fruit is the point.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.