Bringing Nature Home by Rick Darke & W. Tallamy

Author:Rick Darke & W. Tallamy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: 2007-03-11T05:00:00+00:00

HAWTHORNS

Family Rosaceae, genus Crataegus

Number of species in North America: Many

The genus Crataegus is large and taxonomically confusing. Only a few experts in the world are capable of identifying most species with confidence, and even they can’t agree on how many species there are in North America. Estimates range from 200 to 1000. Even if the minimum estimate turns out to be accurate, Crataegus is one of the largest genera of woody plants in the world. Like oaks, hawthorns hybridize regularly, making their identification even more challenging. All species are small trees, with many of the features that we like on crabapples (beautiful spring flowers, striking red fruits in the fall), although most species present stiff thorns up to two inches in length on their branches. When planted in full sun, their fruits can be numerous and provide nice red accents through the first several months of fall and winter.

Because of their copious fruit production, hawthorns provide food for birds and mammals alike. Their thorny branches are safe nesting sites for many bird species, and their leaves nourish 159 species of eastern caterpillars. Because hawthorns are close relatives of crabapples and cherries, they host many of the same species of Lepidoptera, including 5 sphinx moths, 10 dagger moths, and 6 butterflies. One species found on hawthorn illustrates the lengths to which some caterpillars will go to hide from birds. The blinded sphinx (Paonias excaecatus), snips the remains of each leaf as it eats it from the tree, thereby removing one of the primary cues birds use to locate caterpillars among the foliage.

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