‘Winter King’ is a cultivar of the Green Hawthorn developed in Indiana and introduced in 1955. Green Hawthorn is a Missouri native usually occurring in lowland areas unlike most Hawthorns. It is a small ornamental tree with dark green leaves and thorns.

It produces white flowers about ¾ inch in diameter with five petals, and ½ inch round fruits in September which persist into winter. Disease resistance is better than most hawthorns. Hawthorn wood is very hard; Crataegus comes from the Greek word ‘kratos’ meaning strength.