Hawthorn

The main shrub of the hedges round the fields and along the roads.

Through the year

Hawthorn flowers white in late spring (days 8 to 17). Red haws hang from late summer into winter. Its leaves turn and thin in autumn, though a hedge keeps some leaves longer than the trees.

In play

A hedge stands 1.6 m tall and stops men and horses, except at its gates and gaps. A horse at full gallop can jump it.