Cockspur Hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli) 3 Gallon

Exposure: Full Sun Soil: Medium Dry-Medium Wet Mature Height: 25 feet Mature Width: 25 feet Blooms: June Description: One of those very fragrant early summer flowers that leaves a lasting impression. Can grow as a small tree or large shrub. With its broad-spreading crown and low-branched habit, Cockspur Hawthorn makes great screening for privacy and naturalizing. The dark green foliage has a lustrous quality to it, and it tends to shine in bright light. In fall, Cockspur Hawthorn turns a wonderful shade of purple. It can tolerate many soils, but needs good drainage. Very desirable bird habitat due to its large thorns and crabapple-like fruit. Attracts: The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract a variety insects, including honeybees, bumblebees, Halictid bees, masked bees (Hylaeus), Andrenine bees, Sphecid wasps, Vespid wasps, Syrphid flies, dance flies (Empididae), Calliphorid flies, butterflies, and beetles. Other insects use hawthorn trees as a source of food by consuming their wood, leaves, flowers, fruits, and plant sap. This latter group of insects includes the larvae of metallic wood-boring beetles, larvae of long-horned beetles, leaf beetles, weevils, larvae of gall flies, plant bugs, aphids, leafhoppers, treehoppers, scale insects, larvae of sawflies, larvae of many moths, and larvae of the butterfly, Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax). Some birds use the crabapple-like fruits as a source of food, by which means they spread the seeds of hawthorn trees considerable distances. These birds include the Wood Duck, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Fox Sparrow, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Northern Flicker, Bobwhite Quail, Wild Turkey, Ring-necked Pheasant, and Ruffed Grouse. The latter bird also feeds on the buds and young leaves of these trees. Because the hawthorn trees are often densely branched and thorny, they provide ideal protective cover and nesting sites for many species of birds, including the Common Grackle, Willow Flycatcher, and Field Sparrow. Mammals also use these small trees as a source of food and protective cover. Mammals that consume the fruits include the Gray Fox, Woodland Vole, and Striped Skunk. Snags and cavities of hawthorn trees provide occasional roost sites for the Northern Long-eared Bat.