Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha; see CRATÆGUS), a shrub or small tree, a native of Europe, Siberia, and the north of Africa, common in Britain, and much planted both for hedges and for ornament. It varies in height from 6 or 8 to 20 or 25 feet. It has roundish obovate three- to five-lobed deciduous leaves, and corymbs, generally of white, rose-coloured or sometimes deep crimson flowers, succeeded by a small red fruit (haws) with yellow pulp, the central stony part bearing a very large proportion to the pulp. There are many varieties of hawthorn, and, curiously enough, some have only one style, whilst some have several. The variety called Glastonbury Thorn—because supposed to have originated at Glastonbury (q.v.)—is remarkable for its early flowering, which often takes place in the middle of winter, whilst the common kind is not in flower till May or June. The winter flowers of the Glastonbury variety are, however, not generally followed by fruit, and a second flowering often takes place in the same year. The common hawthorn is often popularly called May, from the season of its flowering in England. It is also called Whitethorn, in contradistinction to the Sloe or Blackthorn. The perfume of the blossoms is strong but delicious. The use of the hawthorn for hedges is almost universal in Britain. It has also sometimes been employed as a stock on which to graft apples and other Pomaceæ. Several double-flowered and select single-flowered varieties are propagated by budding and grafting for the adornment of lawns and pleasure-grounds. A fermented liquor, which is very intoxicating, is made from the fruit in many parts of France. For the Cockspur Thorn of North America, and the Pyracanth Thorn, see CRATÆGUS.
The hawthorn is particularly valuable as a hedge-plant, in consequence of its strong and plentiful spines, its long life, and its ready adaptation to very various soils. For this purpose it is propagated by seed: the haws are laid in a heap to rot, with a mixture of sand or fine mould, and, in a year or sixteen months after, the seeds are sown in ground carefully prepared. The young plants are kept clear of weeds, and often grow to the height of a foot or two feet in the first season (see HEDGE). Hawthorn hedges bear trimming very well. Young hawthorn plants are called quicks or quicksets, because used to make living (quick) fences.
An old English tradition regards Christ's crown of thorns as made of hawthorn; for the same reason the French call it 'l'épine noble.' In south Germany the tradition pointed to blackthorn, as elsewhere to some kind of buckthorn. Whitethorn was much favoured by fairies, old and lonely thorn-trees being regarded as their trysting-places.