Plant · P-381

Mayhaw

Crataegus opaca

Mayhaw is a small thorny tree of southeastern wetlands, at home in low wet woods and creek and river bottoms where most fruit trees would drown. Its small, acid, juicy fruit ripens in a rush every May and is the reason anyone plants it - simmered down into the tart jelly that carries its name, plus jam and wine. It blooms strikingly early, in February and March, which means a late freeze is the main threat to the crop rather than heat or drought. Few birds bother with the fruit, so what is not picked hangs on the branch and feeds wildlife for weeks.