COMMON HAWTHORN
Crataegus Monogyna

Haw is believed to mean ‘hedge’. A small tree of the rose family, hawthorn is also known as ‘whitethorn’, ‘quickthorn’, or the ‘May’. It is often a companion to blackthorn. There are two main species in Britain, the common and the English (Midland), distinguished in general by white or pink flowers respectively.

Some uses:
· MEDICINE. An important tree in herbal medicine to treat heart and circulatory problems. It relaxes blood vessels thereby improving blood flow and lowering blood pressure.
· HEDGING. Following the General Enclosures Act of 1845, peasants were thrown off their ‘collective’ land and millions of hawthorn seeds were planted to grow into hedgerows.
· FOOD. Known as the ‘bread and cheese’ tree, the hawthorn nourished travellers. It is loved by cattle and horses and the berries by birds.
· DYE. In Scotland, the bark was used to dye wool black.

Traditionally an English tree, hawthorn represented human nature, sexuality, reproduction and fertility. The blossom for many men has a strong female scent and for Turks, a branch is an erotic symbol. Chaucer expresses this association:

Mark the fair blooming of the Hawthorn Tree,
Who, finely clothed in a robe of white,
Fills full the wanton eye with Mary’s delight.

In Christian legend, Joseph of Arimathea planted his staff in the ground at Glastonbury and it became a hawthorn tree, always blossoming on Christmas Day. To this day a blossoming twig is annually sent to the Queen. Legend also relates that when Moses spoke to God on Mount Horeb, it was allegedly through the hawthorn tree (C. pyracantha). Henry VII claimed hawthorn as the badge of the House of Tudor as his crown had been hidden in a hawthorn bush after having been stolen from Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Deities associated with hawthorn are, among others: Olwen (daughter of Giant Hawthorn), Cardea (Italian) and Blodeuwedd (the May Queen).