Cockspur Thorn

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae

Genus: Crataegus

Species: --

Identifying Characteristics:

-Crataegus, commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in therose family, Rosaceae

-growing to 5-15 m tall

-The most common type of bark is smooth grey in young individuals, developing shallow longitudinal fissures with narrow ridges in older trees.

-The thorns are small sharp-tipped branches that arise either from other branches or from the trunk, and are typically 1-3 cm long

-The leaves grow spirally arranged on long shoots, and in clusters on spur shoots on the branches or twigs. The leaves of most species have lobed or serrate margins and are somewhat variable in shape.

-The fruit, sometimes known as a "haw", is berry-like, but structurally a pome containing from 1 to 5pyrenes that resemble the "stones" of plums,peaches, etc. which are drupaceous fruit in the same subfamily.

Special Adaptions:

- native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere inEurope, Asia and North America.

-Hawthorns provide food and shelter for many species of birds and mammals, and the flowers are important for many nectar-feeding insects

-Hawthorns are also used as food plants by the larvae of a large number of Lepidoptera species

-The wood of some hawthorn species is very hard and resistant to rot. In rural North America it was prized for use as tool handles and fence posts.