A little over 25 species of hawthorn are found in Canada, a number of which occur in this province. There is no group of trees in Canada in which it is more difficult to separate one species from another. The group is so large and so closely related that only one who has time to study the different species can hope to distinguish them all. The flower and fruit are mainly relied upon to distinguish one species from another.
Hawthorns are usually low, wide-spreading, bushy trees, frequently found growing as shrubs in thickets. They are common along roadsides, in fence corners, old pastures, and in open places in the woodlot. They prefer rich, moist, well-drained soils.
Hawthorns, in general, can be distinguished from other trees by their somewhat zigzag twigs, which are armed with long thorns. The thorns occur just above the point at which the leaf is attached and are commonly unbranched and exceedingly sharp. The winter buds are small, shiny, chestnut-brown, rounded and covered with numerous overlapping scales. The leaves are alternate, simple, generally toothed and usually lobed. The white or rarely pink flowers are bisexual and are borne in showy clusters on the tips of short, leafy branches. The fruit or haws, as they are sometimes called, resemble tiny apples and are edible, although the proportion of bony seeds to pulp is so great that they are hardly worth gathering. Very often they remain on the tree all winter.
The hard, heavy wood is of no commercial importance although it makes excellent handles, mallets and wooden novelties.
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