Nanking Cherry vs Black Hawthorn - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Black Hawthorn

Prunus tomentosa

Crataegus douglasii

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Nanking Cherry
Black Hawthorn

Nanking Cherry is a small deciduous shrub known for its attractive white blossoms and edible fruit. Its dark red berries are excellent for pies, jellies, and even fresh eating.

Nanking Cherry is highly regarded as a shade tolerant fruit. We often see it planted as a hedge on the north side of a house where few other plants will survive, let alone thrive.

Expect fruit mid to late July. The fruit can vary in sweetness and size considerably. We often hear that people prefer it to sour cherries. Perhaps this is because Nanking Cherry is more closely related to plums. In fact, it is sometimes used as a dwarfing rootstock for plums.

Black Hawthorn is a versatile plant that is native to wetlands and other areas with moist soils, but can also tolerate dry soils. This plant can be grown as a short shrub, or a tree reaching 30 feet tall.

Black Hawthorn is valued for erosion control and attracting pollinators. It also makes an attractive flowering ornamental that can be planted as a specimen or pruned as a hedge. It is commonly used in shelterbelts.

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Black Hawthorn Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 8 m (25 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 5 m (15 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: any
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Suckering: low
Suckering: medium


Foliage: contains thorns
Fall colour: yellow to red
Bark: brown to gray
Flowers: white, early spring
Flowers: white
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: purplish-black pomes
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, ON
Other Names: ando cherry, chinese bush cherry, chinese dwarf cherry, downy cherry, hansens bush cherry, korean cherry, manchu cherry, mountain cherry, shanghai cherry
Other Names: crataegus columbiana, douglas hawthorn, douglas' thornapple