Hawthorns normally have dense crowns that are upright or rounded with spreading branches. Both stems and branches have long, sharp thorns with no leaves or buds on the thorns. This characteristic is used to identify hawthorns from plums, crabapples, and similar shrubs. Leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple and with teeth or small lobes on the margins. Fleshy, Washington, Green, Variable and similar species have leaves that are typically nearly as long as wide and have 2 to 3 pairs of lobes on each margin.
Most foliage turns bronze, scarlet, or purplish red in autumn.
The many species of hawthorns are adapted to a wide range of soil moisture, soil types and habitats. Thickets, pastures, old fields, open woods, stream-banks, forest borders and fencerows are places where hawthorns are commonly found. Fruits are eaten by grouse, turkey and numerous songbirds, especially fox sparrow and cedar waxwing. Fruits are preferred by deer, rabbits, black bear and raccoon. The fruits remain on the shrubs all winter and become very important when food becomes critically scarce in February and March.