Littlehip Hawthorn
Crataegus spathulata
Littlehip hawthorn is a fine-twigged Southeastern hawthorn with small spoon-shaped leaves, clouds of tiny white flowers, and little red haws. A dense, thorny wildlife and hedge tree. Like other hawthorns, the fruit is traditionally cooked into pies and preserves, tasting cherry-like around its cluster of large seeds.
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 20–25 ft
- Spacing
- 15–20 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist, wet
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- white
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~168 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- specimen, hedge or screen, rain garden
- Native states
- AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
Related native plants
More Crataegus species
- Parsley Hawthorn (Crataegus marshallii)
- Black Hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii)
- Cockspur Hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli)
- Green Hawthorn (Crataegus viridis)
- Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum)
- Downy Hawthorn (Crataegus mollis)