midland hawthorn

Photo: Sten Porse — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 4 through 8

Harvest calendar

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

Midland hawthorn is one of only two hawthorns native to Britain, where — alongside the more common Crataegus monogyna — it forms ancient woodland understorey and old hedgerows across central and southern England, distinguished by its shallowly lobed leaves (cut less than halfway to the midrib) and haws that contain two seeds rather than one.

Hardiness

Zone 4–8

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer–autumn

Mature size

Small tree 4–8 m, dense and rounded

Light

Full sun; tolerates partial

Soil pH

6.0–7.0 (near-neutral)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Native to western, central and northern Europe — from Sweden south to Spain and east to Poland, Hungary, Romania and Ukraine — and in Britain confined as a true native to south-east and central England (south of the Humber), where it is a characteristic species of ancient woodland as well as old hedgerows.

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

2–4 yrs

Growth speed

Slow to medium — PFAF lists a medium growth rate to about 6m, though several horticultural sources describe it as a slow grower overall; it reaches maturity over roughly 5-10 years.

Spacing

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

Leaf shape

Leaves are glossy, mid-green, obovate, with a wedge-shaped base and three to five shallow lobes cut less than halfway to the midrib, the margins toothed — distinctly shallower-lobed than the deeply cut leaves of common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), making leaf shape a reliable field character between the two.

Root system

Develops a taproot as a seedling with fibrous lateral roots at maturity, typical of the genus; does not spread by suckering, and its dense rooting is well suited to the clay and heavy loam soils it favors in the wild.

Fruit description

Haws are small, about 1cm across, ripening red in early autumn, with dry, mealy flesh that is not especially palatable eaten fresh — less prized than mayhaw or azarole — but usable for jams, preserves, or dried and ground into meal for bread. Each fruit typically contains two seeds, versus one in common hawthorn, a key identification feature.

Propagation

Propagated from seed, though like all hawthorns it is slow and erratic to germinate because of a hard seed coat and embryo dormancy — fresh seed sown in autumn may still take a further year to germinate, and stored seed needs about 3 months of warm stratification (around 15°C) followed by 3 months of cold stratification (around 4°C), with germination sometimes delayed 18 months or more. Scarifying seed, fermenting it in its pulp, or harvesting it green and sowing immediately can shorten this; cultivars — including the popular pink- and red-flowered forms — are propagated by grafting, and the species is also used itself as a grafting rootstock for medlar and pear.

Pollination

Self-fertile, and pollinated primarily by midges and other flies drawn to its nectar-rich flowers rather than relying mainly on bees.

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.