Crataegus monogyna

Common hawthorn is in the rose or Rosaceae family and is native to Europe. It is a shrub or small tree up to 14 m tall.

• Leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to obovate, up to 5 cm long and almost as wide, with deep pointed and toothed lobes.
• Flowers are 1.5 cm across, white, 5 petals, in clusters in the spring.
• Fruit is round to oval, green turning to red in the fall, up to 1.5 cm long and containing a single seed.
• Buds are shiny red, round. Branches have 2.5 cm long thorns.
• It closely resembles C. laevigata, but has more deeply cut sinuses, flowers have one style, not 2 or 3 and a single seed, not 2 or 3. However, the 2 species often interbreed, making distinguishing them often difficult.