Crataegus mollis - Downy Hawthorn, Red Hawthorn Seeds

Description

Crataegus mollis, or downy hawthorn, seeds are found inside the plant’s distinctive, bright red berries, known as “haws.” These seeds, or more accurately, “pyrenes” or “nutlets,” are small, hard, and typically a few millimeters in length. Each haw can contain up to five seeds. The seeds are known for having a double dormancy, which means they have both an internal embryo dormancy and a hard seed coat that is impermeable to water. This double dormancy makes them difficult to germinate without proper pre-treatment.

To successfully germinate Crataegus mollis seeds, they require a specific process of scarification and stratification. Scarification, which involves breaking or abrading the hard seed coat, is necessary to allow moisture to penetrate. This is followed by a period of “warm stratification” to break the internal dormancy and then a “cold stratification” period to mimic winter conditions, triggering germination. Because of this complex dormancy, the seeds can take a long time to sprout, sometimes not germinating until the second spring after they were sown.