Crataegus

Common hawthorn is a deciduous, thorny small tree or large shrub native to Europe, northwestern Africa, and western Asia, where it has been used for centuries as stock-proof hedging and valued for its May blossom and autumn haws. In the garden it earns its keep as a tough wildlife powerhouse - a single mature tree can support hundreds of invertebrate species, and the haw crop sustains thrushes and waxwings through winter (Wikipedia). The honest catch is the thorns: they are genuinely sharp (up to 0.5 inches), making pruning painful and placing it off-limits near paths and play areas; the tree is also considered invasive in parts of the Pacific Northwest, Australia, and New Zealand where it outcompetes native scrub.

A dense, rounded, largely spineless native hawthorn of the southeastern United States, grown as a small flowering tree for its showy fragrant white spring flowers and bright red fruits that persist through winter. The Missouri Botanical Garden rates it one of the most disease-resistant hawthorns and a strong urban-tolerant choice. Its haws feed birds and mammals into winter, the flowers draw bees and butterflies, and it is a larval host for several hairstreak butterflies.

Midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata), also called English hawthorn, is a thorny deciduous large shrub or small tree of western and central European woodland and old hedgerow, growing to about 15 to 26 feet with a dense, rounded crown. In late spring it is smothered in lax clusters of white (sometimes pink) flowers, followed by dark-red haws that persist into winter. It is one of the most wildlife-valuable hedge plants in the temperate garden - the Woodland Trust notes hawthorn can support hundreds of insect species and gives dense, thorny nesting cover - and the double pink cultivars ("Paul’s Scarlet") are longtime ornamentals. The honest catches: it is genuinely thorny, its seeds (like other rose-family stones) are not for eating, and it hybridises freely with common hawthorn (C. monogyna).