Yellow-berried Hawthorn © DW
In September Daphne Watson reported finding ‘a spectacular yellow-fruited form of hawthorn in a farm hedge in the Rew valley in full fruit at the moment’. and we asked Dr Colin Pope, our Botany Recorder, about it. He replied ‘How interesting! I’ve never come across this before and I’m unaware of any yellow-fruited cultivars. I assume this is Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). If you’re back that way check that the haws have only a single seed (easily done by crushing between your fingers). There is a yellow fruited cultivar of Midland hawthorn (Crataegus oxycantha ‘aurea’) which may escape from cultivation or be accidentally included in a planted hedge. Crataegus orientalis has orange-yellow fruits. Hawthorn is very variable in the wild. In the spring you can find bushes with a wide range of flower shades from white to deep pink. It sounds as though a yellow-fruited cultivar is garden-worthy and should be taken into cultivation!
