About
Crataegus douglasii (Hawthorn)
Crataegus douglasii - Commonly known as black hawthorn, typically matures over time as a small upright tree to 20-30' tall featuring dense clusters of white flowers in spring, edible fruits that mature to black in late summer and a spreading rounded crown of branches (young twigs red) clad with attractive green leaves and sharp thorns. It also sometimes grows as a much shorter bushy thicket-forming shrub. Fragrant, five-petaled, white flowers with cup-shaped bases bloom in flat-topped clusters rising from the leaf axils and branch ends in mid to late spring (May-early June). Flowers have an unpleasant fragrance which tends to attract pollinators such as midges and butterflies. Flowers are followed by abundant, globular, red fruits which ripen to black in late summer. Fruits are edible and commonly called haws. Fruits usually drop to the ground in late fall, but may persist on the tree in a shriveled raisin-like form. Shiny, sometimes mildly lobed, leathery, ovate to obovate leaves (to 3-5" long) with saw-toothed margins (primarily above the leaf midpoint) are dark green above and pale green underneath. Fall color is usually insignificant, but sometimes surprises with showy tones of red, orange and yellow. Branches are armed with stout spines to 1" long. Rough scaly gray bark develops on older trees.
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