Big-seed hawthorn

Photo: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 2: 311. Courtesy of Kentucky Native Plant Society. Scanned by Omnitek Inc. — Public domain · 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.

The large seeds that give it its name often stick together inside the fruit, so it eats like a single-stoned cherry rather than the usual several-seeded haw. Quality varies by individual plant — some are thin-fleshed, juicy and acid, others thicker-fleshed and mealy but better flavoured.

Hardiness

Zone 4–8

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Sept–Oct

Mature size

Multi-stemmed shrub 2.4–7 m (8–23 ft), occasionally tree-like; erect to ascending branches to 13 cm (5 in) thick

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil pH

5.5–7.5 (mildly acid to mildly alkaline)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Eastern North America — most of the northeast from Ontario and Maine south through the Appalachians to Georgia and Tennessee, uncommon at low elevation in the south.

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

450 cm (177 in) apart — about 20 m² (218 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Egg-shaped, widest near the base, 2.5–6 cm long, toothed with 3–5 shallow lobes per side, hairless beneath

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

Oblong to nearly round, about 12–20 mm across, dull bright-to-deep red; up to five large seeds that often stick together

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.