Cockspur hawthorn

Photo: Nadiatalent — Public domain · 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.

The cockspur — named for the long, curved thorns that make it one of the best stockproof hedge plants in the genus. Fruit about 1cm, dry-fleshed and dull raw, but it sets well in jelly and hangs on the tree into spring.

Hardiness

Zone 4–7

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

October

Mature size

Wide, flat-topped tree to 10 m tall and as much across, armed with thorns to 8 cm

Light

Full sun for a crop; tolerates light woodland shade

Soil pH

5.5–8.0 (mildly acid to mildly alkaline)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Eastern North America — Quebec to Georgia and west to Louisiana, in thickets and open ground, especially dry or rocky places.

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

600 cm (236 in) apart — about 36 m² (388 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Alternate, simple, obovate to spoon-shaped, 2.5–10 cm long and 1–3 cm wide, sharply toothed above an untoothed wedge base, thick and dark glossy green, hairless on both faces, turning orange to scarlet and purple in autumn.

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

Rounded to oblong pomes about 1 cm across, deep dull red, usually holding 2 nutlets; the flesh is dry and mealy rather than juicy, and the fruit hangs on the tree well into winter.

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.