{"id":513,"date":"2009-05-17T13:33:06","date_gmt":"2009-05-17T12:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/?p=513"},"modified":"2009-09-06T18:06:24","modified_gmt":"2009-09-06T17:06:24","slug":"hawthorn-heralds-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/2009\/05\/hawthorn-heralds-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawthorn Heralds Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

May sees The Hawthorn (Crataegus mongyna), or Mayflower is bursting into bloom in our British hedgerows.<\/p>\n

\"Summer<\/a>
Summer has arrived<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The blooming of the Hawthorn has always been an indicator that summer has arrived, linking it to ancient Beltane<\/a> festivities, but in recent years it has been found in bloom as early as late April, which experts are using as an indicator of climate change.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Native to Europe, Greece, North Africa and Western Asia and is rich in folklore and legend. Linked with the mytsical home of the Faeries<\/a>, there are\u00a0old folklore customs of tying ribbons or rags onto may trees as offerings to the faeries who were thought to live there.<\/p>\n

The sweetly scented blossom provides a rich early nectar source for bees, hoverflies and other insects whilst the dense thicket of its branches is home to birds and small mammals.<\/p>\n

A long tradition of herbal use<\/a> surrounds the Hawthorn.\u00a0The leaves, flowers and berries can all be used as a tonic for the heart. The berries especially are the most effective.\u00a0Druids used it as a tonic to strengthen an ageing body<\/p>\n

The blossom can be drunk as an infusion, said to have a beneficial effect on the heart and circulation.<\/p>\n

\"Delicate<\/a>
Delicate white blossoms of the Hawthorn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Young leaves and flowers can be added to salads (If you are pushed)!<\/p>\n

A liquor was made from hawthorn buds steeped in brandy.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

In later folklore, the Hawthorn becomes a tree of misfortune and bad luck. In Rome, Greece and Britain, the Hawthorn becomes a tree of enforced chastity. No marriages were allowed during the month of May and up to mid June, as it was considered unlucky to marry in the Hawthorn month.<\/p>\n

The timber has a close grain and is extremely hard, \u00a0it was popular for making small and decorative items, especially those which required a lustrous sheen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May sees The Hawthorn (Crataegus mongyna), or Mayflower is bursting into bloom in our British hedgerows. The blooming of the Hawthorn has always been an indicator that summer has arrived,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[440,124],"tags":[614,677,624,671,623,689,654,613,691,629,690,686,670,651,659,680,625,660,658,687,628,655,675,633,664,678,620,685,631,679,617,652,688,340,618,619],"class_list":["post-513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-featured","category-plants","tag-anglo-saxon","tag-bad-luck","tag-beltane","tag-beneficial-effect","tag-blackthorn","tag-blossoms","tag-british-climate","tag-british-folklore","tag-british-hedgerows","tag-chastity","tag-climate-change","tag-dense-thicket","tag-druids","tag-elementals","tag-faeries","tag-folklore","tag-hawthorn","tag-hawthorn-tree","tag-hawthorns","tag-hoverflies","tag-hundreds-of-years","tag-ides-of-june","tag-lustrous-sheen","tag-may-day-celebrations","tag-mayflower","tag-misfortune","tag-native-trees","tag-nectar-source","tag-north-africa","tag-rags","tag-revelries","tag-revelry","tag-small-mammals","tag-south-of-england","tag-western-asia","tag-whitethorn","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/author\/admin-2\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":732,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions\/732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturearoundme.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}