Common names: Hawthorn, Hedgethorn, Maybush, Whitethorn, Red Haw, Hogberry Wickens, Quickset, Bread and cheese, Aggles, Aubepine, Epine blanche, Senelle, Weissdorn, Hagendorn, Dornstrauch, Mehlbeerstaude, Zu’rur el awdiyah, Shan Zha, Saan,Ja
Taxonomic name: Crataegus species (including C. oxyacantha and C. monogyna)
Family: Rosaceae
Related herbs: Roses, Strawberries, Loquat, Blackberries, Raspberry
Area of origin: Temperate Northern hemisphere including America, Europe, Africa, Asia
Parts used: Berries, flowers, leaves
Has been used medicinally for: arrythmia, tachycardia, palpitations, anxiety, restlessness, cardiac hypoxemia, grief, disconnection, emotional hurt, ADD, cardiac insufficiency, valvular heart disease, parasympathetic CNS insufficiency, hypotension, hypertension, cardiac artery spasm. Autoimmune diseases, vaccine damage. Cardiac edema, chest pains down inner left arm, shortness of breath, cyanosed lips (though at this stage, client would probably be heading to the ER). Improving digestion, especially of lipids. Cardiac insufficiency, valvular heart disease. Hypoglycaemia. See many more below…
Organ/System affinities: Circulatory system, nerves, Pericardium, Heart, Spleen, Stomach, Liver, Yin Wei channel
Healing Actions: Cardiotonic, hypotensive, vasodilator, astringent, diuretic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, sedative, digestant, anti-arrhythmic, hypolipidemic, vulnerary, anti-aging. Parasympathetic nervous stimulant, neurocardiac sedative , cardiac restorative. Antilipemic, antilithic, enzymatic digestant, ischemia/reperfusion protective
Taste: Sweet, sour, astringent
Tissue states: Tension, atrophy, depression
Energetics: Drying, nourishing, restoring, softening, dissolving
Healing constituents: Flavonoids (incl. quercitrin, quercetin, hyperoside, vitexin-rhamnoside, rutin, flavonoglycosyls)3oligomeric pro-cyanidins, procyanioidins (pycnogenol), trimethylamine, Crataegus lactones, oxyacanthine.
Amines (including trimethylamine, isobutylamine, tyramine) , triterpenoid amygdalin, beta-sitosterin, purine, saponins, condensed tanins, pectin.
Acids (ursolic, oleanolic phenolic (caffeic, chlorogenic, phenolcarboxylic) citric, tartaric, crataegolic , tripenic, phosphoric, ursolic, oleanolic ). Digestive enzymes, aluminum, calcium, Vitamin C.
Contraindications and warnings: Pregnancy or breastfeeding
Hypersensitivity to Crataegus products
May slow blood clotting during and after surgery. Suggestion is to stop taking Hawthorn 2 weeks prior to surgery. Caution when using any heart or blood pressure medication
Drug interactions: Enhances activity of cardioactive drugs and herbs2
Increase activity of coronary vasodilators – caffeine, theophylline, papaverine, adenosine, epinephrine, sodium nitrate
Reduces toxicity of cardiac glycosides (e.g. Foxglove)
May increase the depressive effects of barbiturates, benzodiazepines and opioids.
Combines with triamterene and hydrochlorothiazide to increase exercise tolerance after congestive heart issues.
Combines positively with ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, increasing the effects of both the drugs and the Hawthorn.
Digoxin.
Hawthorn creates vasodilation (widening of veins) by increasing the release of nitric oxide (NO) and coronary blood flow. When taken with nitrates such as nitroglycerin, or isosorbide, Hawthorn can enhance the effects of these drugs, increasing risks of low blood pressure, dizziness, and light headedness
Description
Hawthorn is a deciduous tree that grows to 10 metres localy. The bark is smooth when young and develops fissures with age. Grey in colour in many species but our local (C. monogyna) is dull brown.
If you forage for Hawthorn, you will soon become familiar with the thorns, which are small branches, that can reach up to 5 cm long and grow from larger branches or directly from the trunk. Traditionally, the thorns are the remedy for infected
Hawthorn leaves are variably shaped, green with the upper surface being darker than the lower one. They have serrated margins and grow in spirals on long shoots. The leaves start off lobed and those lobes deepen and widen as the leaf matures.
The abundant flowers are hermaphroditic, 5 petalled and grow in flat topped clusters. Local flowers are white in colour but turn pink as the red stamens shed pollen, other varieties may have pink flowers. Flowers form locally in December.
Hawthorn fruit is a small, oval, berry-like red pome to 10mm in length with a number of seeds varying between species. Our local variety has one seed (hence, the species name monogyna, mono = one, gyna = seed). Flesh is white. Fruit grows in clusters of 2 or 3 but many clusters can grow in a small space, giving the illusion of larger clusters. Fruit doesn’t ripen all at once and can be harvested locally from late February though to July.
Hawthorn is deciduous and its flowers, fruit and thorns provide food and protection to many insects and animals, especially in areas where other habitat has been destroyed.
Medicinal use
Keywords – Heart, circulation, capillaries, blood flow restorative, nourishing, inflammation
When we thing of Hawthorn’s magic power, we think immediately about the heart. Hawthorn benefits both the physical and emotional hearts. With a little imagination, we can see the correlations between how it affects us through its effects on both.
Let’s examine Hawthorns effect on the physical heart before we look at anything else. Hawthorn can help regulate the AV (atrioventricular) node. The AV node is fascinating, both because it’s not nerve cells as we may think, but a cluster of specialised muscle cells. It’s function is to bridge electrical signals from the atria of the heart to the ventricles, ant to introduce a slight delay that helps keep correct blood flow. It can also generate its own electrical signals that allow it to act as a backup to the heart’s big pacemaker, the SA (sino-atrial). The SA node feeds information to the Vagus nerve which is responsible for a lot of the monitoring and response that goes along with stress and trauma.
The last paragraph took us on a bit of a long journey but it was important to understand one of the key ways in which Hawthorn helps both mind and body at once. By affecting the bits of our heart that keep our blood flow going constantly, and also affecting the feedback to and from the brain about inconsistencies in blood flow, Hawthorn can help us monitor and reduce some of the symptoms of anxiety, stress and trauma.
Directly, all of this tells us that Hawthorn can be used with heart rhythm problems, reduce palpitations, and manage arrhythmias and tachycardia. By affecting the heart’s pacemaker system, Hawthorn can improve heart efficiency without making it work harder or increasing the demand for oxygen, making it one of the best cardiotonics around (the other one is Motherwort but that’s not covered on this website so far). The other amazing thing is that Hawthorn is has ‘inotrophic’ properties, which means that it can affect the strength of heart muscle contractions!
This powerful healer helps the heart by dilating (widening) the coronary arteries, which means that more blood nourishes the heart muscle itself, bringing it more oxygen, nutrients and messages. We now know that, far being just a pump, as was thought throughout much of recent history, the heart is a sensitive measurement station, reading variations in the blood and compensating for them. It may also be an endocrine gland of sorts, according to some late research, secreting messaging and other chemicals into the blood.
Hawthorn’s effects on the heart spread further than just the heart muscle itself. It also supports both the blood by reducing platelet aggregation, reducing thrombosis and also enhances the integrity of the linings of heart, blood and lymphatic vessels. This all means easier blood flow, less inflammation of blood vessels, reduced chance of damage or clotting and a generally easier life for the heart. It also decreases free fatty acids and lactic acid throughout the blood and body.
So, you can see how powerful a heart medicine Hawthorn is and from this heart supporting ability comes its ability to ease the mind. In many forms of traditional medicine, the heart and mind are inextricably linked through spirit. A restless, unsettled spirit can affect the heart and vice versa. Think of disturbances such as insomnia, anxiety, irritability. ADD sufferers also benefit from its mind-settling nature.
It goes deeper too, traditionally, Hawthorn has been used to help people grieve, to open their heart when the time is right and to undergo the process. The emotional heartache and disconnection found in times of grief can also be helped. It also helps us to open our heart after we’ve been hurt, to start the process of forgiveness.
Hawthorn has an affinity for connective tissue as well; it helps stabilise collagen and thus improve healing from wounds to the skin, reducing redness (blood affinity again) and irritation and improving the ability to form scabs.
Connected to both blood, heart and mind, Hawthorn helps women with menopausal syndrome, relieving irritability, unrest and hot flashes.
Fascinatingly, Hawthorn has been found to help with depository diseases of a hereditary nature (diathesis) such as atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, gallstones, urinary stones, and albuminaria.
As a diuretic, Hawthorn can help with edema, particularly cardiac edema. The fluid retention of edemas can increase blood pressure, putting more strain on the heart. Hawthorn’s properties, literally always come back to the heart. It is a classic herb for relieving fluid build up that has been known as dropsy. It also helps with bladder and urinary tract infections by its positive effects on the membranes and mucosa. Its diuretic and antilithic properties also help reduce and relieve kidney stones.
Because the heart and lungs are so closely connected, it is almost unsurprising that Hawthorn also has benefits for the respiratory system. In this sense, it helps reduce the inflamed of mucosa that is present in many respiratory conditions such as sinusitis, allergies and asthma. Relieving the symptoms of cardiac edema and other heart related fluid build-ups also aids in the ease of breathing, something those conditions inhibit.
From the perspective of an aging man, Hawthorn has been known to facilitate a gentle, sustained reversal of degenerative, age-related changes.
Synergies and combinations
Being such a gentle herb, many people will combine Hawthorn with other herbs for its heart opening and supporting effects.
With Allium sativum to protect heart, liver, and pancreas from organ damage induced by isoprenaline – a very specific remedy!
With Lemon Balm (Melissa ) for anxiety .
With Calendula for a capillary repair salve or ointment
With Mullein (Verbascum) for chest oppression and tightness.
With Elder Berry (Sambucus) in drop doses for vaccine damage and detox
Preparing and using Hawthorn
Hawthorn can be taken in many ways but we should remember that more of the powerful constituents are to be found in the flowers and leaves than in the berries.
Tinctures can be made of leaves and flowers or berries.
A decoction can be made of the berries to help enhance their mucilaginous nature as well as extract their other benefits.
I’ve had great success with a Hawthorn berry glycerite, which provides a sweet relief for anxiety and grief, especially when combined with Rose and/or Lemon Balm glycerites. Yum!
Hawthorn berries are used as food by people in many areas (and by wild critters, who they support in difficult times) and also a delicious, medicinal wine.
If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community
Other herb pages on Ligaya Garden
We cover a lot of ground on many herb related topics here on our website. There are whole pages devoted to different topics as well as frequent posts. Some of the links are –
If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community
Other herb pages on Ligaya Garden
We cover a lot of ground on many herb related topics here on our website. There are whole pages devoted to different topics as well as frequent posts. Some of the links are –
