Crataegus oxyacantha (LINN.)
Family: N.O. Rosaceae
Synonyms: May. Mayblossom. Quick.
Thorn. Whitethorn. Haw. Hazels. Gazels. Halves. Hagthorn. Ladies' Meat.
Bread and Cheese Tree.
(French) L'épine noble
(German) Hagedorn
Part Used: Dried haws or fruits.
Habitat: Europe, North Africa, Western Asia.
Description
| Constituents
| Medicinal Action
and Uses
Preparation and Dosage
| Other Species
¶ Description. The Hawthorn is the badge of the
Ogilvies and gets one of its commonest popular names from blooming in May. Many
country villagers believe that Hawthorn flowers still bear the smell of the
Great Plague of London. The tree was formerly regarded as sacred, probably from
a tradition that it furnished the Crown of Thorns. The device of a Hawthorn bush
was chosen by Henry VII because a small crown from the helmet of Richard III was
discovered hanging on it after the battle of Bosworth, hence the saying, 'Cleve
to thy Crown though it hangs on a bush.' The Hawthorn is called Crataegus
Oxyacantha from the Greek kratos, meaning hardness (of the wood), oxcus
(sharp), and akantha (a thorn). The German name of Hagedorn,
meaning Hedgethorn, shows that from a very early period the Germans divided
their land into plots by hedges; the word haw is also an old word for
hedge. The name Whitethorn arises from the whiteness of its bark and Quickset
from its growing as a quick or living hedge, in contrast to a paling of dead
wood.
This familiar tree will attain a height of 30 feet and lives to a great age.
It possesses a single seed-vessel to each blossom producing a separate fruit,
which when ripe is a brilliant red and this is in miniature a stony apple. In
some districts these mealy red fruits are called Pixie Pears, Cuckoo's Beads and
Chucky Cheese. The flowers are mostly fertilized by carrion insects, the
suggestion of decomposition in the perfume attracts those insects that lay their
eggs and hatch out their larvae in decaying animal matter.
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¶ Constituents. In common with other members of
the Prunus and Pyrus groups of theorder Rosaceae, the Hawthorn contains
Amyddalin. The bark contains the alkaloid Crataegin, isolated in greyish-white
crystals, bitter in taste, soluble in water, with difficulty in alcohol and not
at all in ether.
¶ Medicinal Action and
Uses. Cardiac, diuretic,
astringent, tonic. Mainly used as a cardiac tonic in organic and functional
heart troubles. Both flowers and berries are astringent and useful in decoction
to cure sore throats. A useful diuretic in dropsy and kidney troubles.
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¶ Preparation and
dosage. Fluid Extract of
Berries, 10 to 15 drops.
The leaves have been used as an adulterant for tea. An excellent liquer is
made from Hawthorn berries with brandy.
Formerly the timber, when of sufficient size, was used for making small
articles. The root-wood was also used for making boxes and combs; the wood has a
fine grain and takes a beautiful polish. It makes excellent fuel, making the
hottest wood-fire known and used to be considered more desirable than Oak for
oven-heating. Charcoal made from it has been said to melt pig-iron without the
aid of a blast.
The stock is employed not only for grafting varieties of its own species, but
also for several of the garden fruits closely allied to it, such as the medlar
and pear.
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¶ Other Species
C. Aronia is a bushy species giving larger fleshy fruit than C.
Oxyacantha. It is indigenous to Southern Europe and Western Asia and is
common about Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, where its fruit is used for
preserves.
C. odoratissima is very agreeable also as a fruit.
C. Azarole. Its fruit in the same way is highly esteemed in Southern
Europe.
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Reprinted from "A
Modern Herbal" (1931)
Mrs. M. Grieve, Edited by Mrs. C.F. Leyel
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