In this section we will regularly portray a plant in order to integrate it into: a natural approach to horse care, an enrichment of its diet with various contributions, and more biodiversity in its environment to create a sustainable ecosystem. | Natural Care
Hawthorns and horses
There are two hawthorns, did you know that?
Hawthorns are part of the Rosaceae family.
- The leaves are toothed and the branches carry spines that protect them from herbivores.
- Those are slow-growing thorny shrub with a lifespan of up to 500 years.
- The trunk bears a gray-brown, scaly and cracked bark.
- The leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple, lobed (3 to 5 lobes), toothed at the periphery,
- the flowers are white sometimes pinkish, with numerous stamens with red anther before fertilization. They have 5 petals and 5 triangular sepals,
- the fruits are cenelles (or red drupes),
- elles préfèrent les sols frais à secs, les haies champêtres, et les lisières forestières, de préférence au soleil,
- their best-known property is the prevention of mild cardiac disorders, strengthening the resistance of blood vessels: the plant, both its berries, its leaves and its flowers, is devoid of toxicity.
- our horses can eat it: they go there with delicacy because of the thorns,
- in homesteading we use wood to make tool handles.
There is the two-style hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata).
Laevigata means “creamy, smooth.
It has as a particularity
- the petioles of its leaves are glabrous and not pubescent or slightly downy,
- it blooms earlier from April to May
- its flowers have two styles,
- its fruits with 2 or 3 kernels, remain fixed on the tree and are visible in winter,
- it prefers calcareous soils.
And the hawthorn with one style (Crataegus monogyna).
It has as a particularity
- toothed leaves only in the upper part,
- it blooms later from May to June,
- its flowers have a style, and its fruits have only a kernel
- it supports lightly shaded environments.
=> come and discover the wild plants during the workshops organized at Val de Vie !
