''Crataegus laevigata'', known as the Midland hawthorn, English hawthorn, woodland hawthorn, or mayflower, is a species of hawthorn native to western and central Europe, from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

(where it is typically found in ancient woodland and old hedgerows) and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, east to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The species name is sometimes spelt ''C. levigata'', but the original orthography is ''C. lævigata''.

Description

It is a large

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

growing to or rarely to tall, with a dense crown. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are long and broad, with two or three shallow, forward-pointing lobes on each side of the leaf. The

hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are produced in corymbs of 6 to 12, each flower with five white or pale pink petals and two or sometimes three styles. They are pollinated by

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is a dark red

pome In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Pome fruits consist of a central "core" containing multiple small seeds, which is enveloped by a tough membrane and surrounded by a ...

diameter, slightly broader than long, containing two or three nutlets. It flowers in May to June (UK) in rather lax clusters. The flowers are usually white, but can be pink. Flowers are up to 2.4 cm in diameter, with 2–3 styles and stigmas and more than 20 stamens. They have 5 triangular sepals, which are obtuse. The petals can be slightly velvety on the inside. Its fruit persists for an average of 64.4 days, and bears an average of 2.8 seeds per fruit. Fruits average 77.4% water, and their dry weight includes 11.1%

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

s and 1.4%

lipid Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing ...

Identification

It is distinguished from the closely related common hawthorn, '' C. monogyna'', in the leaves being only shallowly lobed, with forward-pointing lobes, without hair tufts in the vein axils, and in the flowers having more than one style. Each style produces a seed, so its fruits also have more than one seed and these make them slightly oval, in contrast with the single-seeded and therefore round fruits of common hawthorn. The two species hybridise, giving rise to ''C.'' × ''media''.

Taxonomy

In the past, Midland hawthorn was widely but incorrectly known by the name '' C. oxyacantha'', a name that has now been rejected as being of uncertain application. In 1753,

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

introduced the name ''C. oxyacantha'' for the single species of which he was aware, but described it in such a way that the name became used for various species, including both the Midland and the common hawthorn. In 1775, Jacquin formally separated the common hawthorn, naming it ''C. monogyna'', and in 1946, Dandy showed that Linnaeus had actually observed a different plant, ''C. oxyacantha''. By this time, though, confusion over the true identity of ''C. oxyacantha'' was so great that Byatt proposed that the name should be formally rejected as ambiguous, and this proposal was accepted by the International Botanical Congress, although the name continues to be used informally. The Midland hawthorn was described botanically as a separate species as long ago as 1798 by Poiret, whose name ''Mespilus laevigata'' referred to this hawthorn. Poiret's name is reflected in the revised formal botanical name of Midland hawthorn: ''Crataegus laevigata'' (Poir.) DC.

Cultivars

'François Rigaud' has yellow fruit.Phipps, J.B.; O'Kennon, R.J.; Lance, R.W. 2003. ''Hawthorns and medlars''. Royal Horticultural Society, Cambridge, U.K. 'Paul's Scarlet' (double red flowers), 'Punicea' (pink and white) and 'Rosea Flore Pleno' (double pink flowers) have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. These cultivars are considered by taxonomists to be derived from hybrids between ''C. laevigata'' and ''C. monogyna'', within the named hybrid species ''C.'' × ''media''.

Parasites

The hawthorn button-top gall on Midland hawthorn is caused by the dipteran gall-midge ''

Dasineura crataegi ''Dasineura crataegi'', the hawthorn button-top gall-midge, is a dipteran Cecidomyiidae, gall-midge. It causes the hawthorn button-top gall, which develops in the terminal shoots of common hawthorn, ''Crataegus monogyna'' Jacq., Midland hawthorn ...

''.

Description

Identification

Taxonomy

Cultivars

Parasites

References

Bibliography

Further reading