Thursday, 6 January 2011
Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna this is the common hawthorn and such an amazing usefull plant for those interested in bird life for the garden. Other common names for plants from this genus are may, mayblossom, maythorn, quickthorn, whitethorn, motherdie, and haw. You can see why using proper names is best lol.
They can make excellent specimen trees but are probably more useful in wildlife terms as a hedge. The Romans actually used them as stock hedging because of their many thorns. These days however those thorns are best used to provide protection for smaller garden birds. House Sparrows, Finches, The tit family can all nest in the branches of the tree/hedge in relative safety because of the thorns.
The berries that are produced profusely in autumn also provide much needed winter food for our feathered friends.
There are a few stories about this plant as well.
Firstly during the Crimean war the smell of these reminded folk of the smell of gangerine so it became associated with death.
This was also true in Wales, where it was called Mother Lies Bleeding at one time. This happened after the reformation of the church in the UK when it became illegal to be a catholic. During that time of difficulty for the catholic church they would meet in peoples houses and the use of hawthorn blossom in someone's house window showed where the services would be held during spring. So anyone found with hawthorn flowers in the house was assumed to be a papist and killed.
Weird how these things get started and sometimes stay for such a long time after that people often forget where they started from.
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