Crataegus monogyna Jacq.

The common hawthorn, as popularly known, consists of two very distinct forms now usually regarded as a separate species, viz., C. monogyna and C. oxyacantha (q.v.). C. monogyna is the commoner one, and is distinguished from the other by being, as a rule, a larger tree (up to 35 ft); its leaves are larger and more deeply three- to seven-lobed; its flowers have but one style, and its fruits but one stone. The fruit also is rounder and less elongated. It is, within its own limits, a very variable tree, and numerous named varieties are in cultivation. Many of these have little interest or value; the best and most distinct are noted below. Although the typical forms of oxyacantha and monogyna are absolutely distinct, they are united by others of an intermediate character, having flowers with one or more styles, and fruits with one or more stones. Some of the cultivars may belong to these intermediates, but to avoid complicating the nomenclature it seems best to retain them in the species they most resemble or under which they have customarily been placed. Those who regard the two as forms of a single species have much to support their view.

Crataegus monogyna, being more formidably armed than C. oxyacantha, is the one in common use for making hedges. On the whole, it may safely be said that no other tree or shrub is, in our climate, so good for the purpose. Easily raised, transplanting well when small, and bearing any amount of clipping, it fills a unique place in the English landscape in constituting tens of thousands of miles of hedgerow. Besides its efficacy as a hedge, due to its thorny nature and dense growth, it has in its rich, polished, green foliage much beauty as well, although well-kept hedges do not flower much, owing to the flowering wood being cut away in autumn.

The naturally grown hawthorn has a singular beauty of habit. It forms a comparatively slender trunk (1 to 2 ft in diameter, however, in old specimens), supporting a rounded head of dense branches gracefully pendulous at the ends. When in blossom no object of our waysides has greater beauty, and its charm is heightened by one of the sweetest of open-air perfumes. The flowers of the hawthorn open from the middle of May until early June. In accounting for its associations with the games and festivals of early May-time, we must remember that these grew up under the Old Style calendar, when 1st May occupied the same place in relation to the equinox that 13th May does at the present time. The hawthorn is very rarely in bloom on our present first of May.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

The geographical distribution of this species was not given. It occurs over much of Europe and extends into the Near East. In the south-eastern part of its range it becomes variable, in part probably as a result of hybridisation with C. azarolus.