Hawthorn, also called thorn apple, is the name of many species of thorny shrubs or small trees that bear fragrant flowers. Hawthorns are native to North America, Europe, and northern Africa. Their blossoms are white or, rarely, pink or red. The English hawthorn is noted for its beauty in May, when it blooms. The English countryside then becomes white with hawthorn blossoms.
Hawthorns are deciduous—that is, they lose their leaves each autumn. The leaves change to scarlet, bronze-red, or yellow before they are shed. The fruit, called a haw, is fleshy with a paperlike core. It is red to red-orange and looks like a small apple. For this reason, the hawthorn is sometimes called red haw or scarlet haw. The fruit ripens from September to October.
The downy hawthorn is a type of hawthorn found in the United States. This small tree has crooked, spreading branches and white blossoms. The orange-scarlet haws ripen late in the summer but fall soon after they mature. Another American hawthorn, the cockspur, sometimes grows 25 feet (8 meters) tall. Its red fruit remains on the tree from fall through winter.
