Tree · Rosaceae
Cockspur hawthorn
Crataegus crus-galli
Cockspur hawthorn is recorded as native to 30 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 660 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Cockspur hawthorn at a glance
- Native in
- 660 counties, across 30 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 30 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Cockspur hawthorn is recorded as native to 30 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 660 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 660 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 25 counties
- Arkansas 38 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 14 counties
- Georgia 8 counties
- Illinois 73 counties
- Indiana 29 counties
- Iowa 3 counties
- Kansas 15 counties
- Kentucky 57 counties
- Louisiana 28 counties
- Massachusetts 10 counties
- Michigan 19 counties
- Mississippi 10 counties
- Missouri 88 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New York 16 counties
- North Carolina 21 counties
- Oklahoma 9 counties
- Pennsylvania 32 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 11 counties
- Tennessee 27 counties
- Texas 34 counties
- Vermont 1 county
- Virginia 40 counties
- West Virginia 20 counties
- Wisconsin 9 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 30 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 24 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7.2
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 24 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CRCR2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Crataegus crus-galli (PLANTS symbol CRCR2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources