HAWTHORN - MAY Crataegus monogyna ROSACEAE
Very common on all types of soil throughout Great Britain with the exception of northern Scotland - the Hawthorn is most familiar as the agricultural hedging for the partition of fields - retention of stock etc. - for which its formidable armament of spines and ease of layering to form a dense barrier makes it very suitable. It is also the most frequent form of hill scrub. Where growing in the open - however - it will form a neat small tree up to 30 feet in height. The smooth grain of the very hard wood makes it very suitable for engraving work.

The Hawthorn begins to flower in May and continues into June at this season the country air is often heavy with the sweet - cloying odour of the blossom - attractive to an extraordinarily numerous and diverse insect population. The Glastonbury Thorn - of legendary fame - is a variety (praecox) of this species which flowers and produces young leaves in winter (or - in very severe winters - in early spring) as well as flowering at the normal season.. The fruit (haws) of the Hawthorn are a staple diet of birds in winter.