Hawthorn

Crataegus laevigata, C. monogyna

flower

Small white flowers with twenty pink stamens, and young leaves, of a thorny hedgerow shrub, dried for infusion.

Origin

Hedgerows of Europe

Season (United States)

all year round

Preparation

One teaspoon of dried flowers and leaves per cup, ten minutes in barely simmering water; then strained. Its small red fruits are eaten cooked, in jelly, but their stones are removed.

Did you know?

A hawthorn can live 500 years; specimens of 662 years have been reported in France, and even 1,700 years in Mayenne.