[hcrisp]

I have a Hawthorn. My brother-in-law, who is a landscaper, came over to show me how to prune what we thought was a flowering crab. However, on closer inspection, he exclaimed, "Wait, this a Hawthorn bush!"

It has gotten larger over time, and harder to mow around due to the thorns (spine-like protrusions which resemble small branch growths more than true thorns).

It does have one redeeming quality. Every year in early spring, for a brief but dazzling moment, it appears covered in thousands of small, white, lace-like flowers.

[dccoolgai]

If I'm not mistaken, the berries can also be used to make a drink (iirc mixed with lemonade).

[bentpins]

https://earthtoveg.com/chinese-hawthorn-candy-haw-leather/

The Chinese Hawthorn is used in a few snacks. I really like the fruit leather you can buy in Asian supermarkets. My math teacher from High School got me interested in both math and Chinese snacks, and it was really nice to see him get excited about sharing both with us. It'd probably work with American haw berries too - but the pitting would be a lot of extra work as they are smaller.

[culi]

The berries are edible in many if not most species. And the tree is often used as stock to graft pears and apples. Hawthorn species in many cultures have a medicinal history as some sort of "heart tonic". Modern research seems to support its usage for treatment of cardiovascular disease[0]

[0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249900/

[Loughla]

Country folk call them redhaws. They're good, but you have to beat the birds to them.