''Crataegus orientalis'', known as oriental hawthorn, is a species of

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

native to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

region,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, Caucasia,

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, and western

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, with fruits that are orange or various shades of red. This species is highly variable. Knud Ib Christensen in his monograph divides it into four subspecies: * ''C. orientalis'' subsp. ''orientalis'' * ''C. orientalis'' subsp. ''pojarkovae'' ( Kossych) Byatt has orange fruit. * ''C. orientalis'' subsp. ''presliana'' K.I.Chr. * ''C. orientalis'' subsp. ''szovitsii'' ( Pojarkova) K.I.Chr.

Uses

Culinary uses

In Caucasia the fruits are either eaten raw or used to make a type of sweet bread.

References

orientalis {{Crataegus-stub

Uses

Culinary uses

See also

References