Rhaphiolepis is a genus of about fifteen species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the Rosaceae family, native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of East and Southeast Asia, including southern Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The common name “hawthorn,” originally associated with Crataegus, is also used for some Rhaphiolepis species. For example, Rhaphiolepis indica is known as “Indian hawthorn,” while Rhaphiolepis umbellata is called “Yeddo hawthorn.”
