May Blossom

[wiltsman]

May Blossom and Hawthorn Flowers; are they the same?

[deggers316]

yes Hawthorne tree is also known as a May tree in some parts

[hc4361]

Ne'er cast a clout til May is out. Very pretty but smells of decomposing bodies.

[deggers316]

now that's odd because i for one think it a beautiful smelling flower

[wiltsman]

Thank you for confirming what I thought - Just had a niggling doubt though.

[hc4361]

deggers, are you sure your sense of smell is working?
Botanists later discovered that the chemical trimethylamine present in hawthorn blossom is also one of the first chemicals formed in decaying animal tissue. In the past, when corpses would have been kept in the house for several days prior to burial, people would have been very familiar with the smell of death, so it is hardly surprising that hawthorn blossom was so unwelcome in the house
http://www.treesforli...ythfolk/hawthorn.html

However, it also contains triethylamine, a chemical produced in the early stages of decomposition of plants and animals, as well as in vaginal infections.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A34170932

In a couple of weeks the trees surrounding my house will look as if the are covered in snow with the May blossom. My windows will stay firmly shut, no matter how warm it is.

[lady-janine]

hc - we have so much blackthorn out it looks just like snow - very pretty!!

[hammerman]

Blackthorn (sloe) is out now, hawthorn will come in may. The blossom you see in the hedgerows etc now is Blackthorn.

[wiltsman]

Thank you Hammerman