How to Identify Hawthorn

Smell the small red, pink or white clusters of flowers, which usually blooms during the month of May with a distinct, sharp odor of decomposing flesh. This odor attracts insects for pollination.

Look for small, shrublike trees with crooked, zigzag trunks bearing sharp, long, thin thorns. You will not see thorns on the buds or leaves on the thorns, making hawthorn different from shrubs such as crabapples. The bark color can be red-brown or gray, with a smooth or scaly texture. Hawthorn bushes can grow from 15 feet to 30 feet in height.

Examine the fruit of the hawthorn, which looks like a small, red, black or yellow-orange apple. Notice if the fruit remains on this shrub throughout the winter. Cut open the hawthorn berries, also called "haws," to find two to five seeds that look like small nuts.

Observe the hawthorn leaves, which look shiny and appear in an extensive variety of shapes and sizes. For example, Crataegus viridis "Green Hawthorn" has oval-shaped leaves with pointed tips, while other shrubs have three-lobed leaves. The leathery leaves of green hawthorn have small teeth on the edges.

Notice the area surrounding wild hawthorn, which will be in sunny, wooded locations or on hillsides. Find hawthorn also in pastures and stream banks. Hawthorn grows in a broad range of soil types.