Natasha Richardson
Crataegus laevigata (Hawthorn)
Plant Profile
Names: May, Bread and Cheese, Hagthorn, Moon Flower, Whitethorn, Quickthorn, May Tree, Mayblossom, Ladies’ Meat, Gaxels, Halves, Huath, May Bush, Mayflower, Tree of Chastity and Quickset. The berries are known as Haws, Chucky Cheese, Cuckoo’s Beads and Pixie Pears.
Element: Fire
Planet: Mars
Magical uses: Associated with fairies and Blodeuwedd. The berries can be used in magic to encourage more dynamism, courage, clarity and insight in your life. It will also help develop initiative.
Key Words: Heart, Love, Relax, Strengthen, Repair, Dynamic,
Tissue type: Excitation, Atrophy and Relaxation.
Qualities: Cool and Dry.
Actions: Cardiotonic, cardiac, diuretic, astringent, relaxant, antioxidant, anti-spasmodic.
Physical Uses: Hypertension and Hypotension, Hyper-cholesterolaemia, Strengthens the heart muscles, Myocarditis, Arteriosclerosis, Atheroma, Thrombosis, Paroxysmal tachycardia, Angina, Enlargement of the heart from over-work, Dizziness, Intermittent claudication, Insomnia, Anxiety, Over-Exertion and Mental tension, Kidney stones, Inflammation of the mucosa, Memory enhancer, Palpitations, Menopause, Draws out thorns and splinters, Heart failure, Cystitis and Sore throat.
Emotional Uses: Mend a broken heart, Open the heart chakra, Unblock problems receiving and giving love, Softens anger, Anxiety, Restlessness, Irritability, Nervousness.
Parts used: Leaf, Flower and Berry.
Known constituents: Bioflavanoids, triterpenoids, proanthocyanins, coumarins, amines, ascorbic acid (in berries only) and saponins (in the berries only).
Legend & Tradition
It is used in May Queen rituals and would often be worn in the hair by the May Queen. Its smell is likened to the smell of a woman’s sexual organs when aroused. As such it is associated with fertility, just as Beltane is.
It is said that the flowers encourage fairies to come into the house. It is for this reason that it is thought by some to be lucky and others, unlucky, to bring into the home. It is also said to be unlucky to pick the blossom before May but this can’t be helped if this is what weather brings about, as the blossom doesn’t last long on the trees. (Grieves, 1992).
Medicinal Uses
CARDIOVASCULAR
Hawthorn is well known for its association with the heart. It helps to open (dilate) arteries but also helps strengthen the heart muscle. This combination of actions gives it the ability to strengthen those with low blood pressure and those with high blood pressure alike. Not only does it dilate the blood vessels but it also helps to clear dangerous cholesterol (LDL), it also protects against plaque forming in the arteries preventing and treating heart attack, angina and arrhythmias. (Kumar et al., 2012).
DIGESTION
In Chinese medicine the berries are used to help strengthen the digestive powers for eating meat as it helps the absorption of animal fats. In fact, it is often cooked with a long side meat in that region. The berry can be used in medicine to help moisten the gut walls and aid effective absorption (Kerry, p. 171, 2021). It may be useful in leaky gut syndrome for this reason but I have yet to test this theory.
NERVES
Hawthorn can also be used to lower anxiety levels. (Martinelli, et al., 2021) It can also be used to relieve insomnia. Because of its cooling and calming properties it is used by some herbalists to help alleviate the hyper-activity of those with ADD and ADHD.
IMMUNE
Its cooling effects also make it useful in inflammation such as rheumatism, arthritis and other autoimmune problems. (Nazhand et al., 2020) Eczema, Hayfever, Sinusitis and Asthma may all benefit from Hawthorn as they generally come about from a hot and excited tissue state. It could be likened to an anti-histamine although it doesn’t act through the histamine constituent.
Safety Considerations
There are no known potential safety problems with this herb.
References
Kerry, B. (2021) Functional Herbal Therapy - A Modern Paradigm for Clinicians, Aeon Books, London.
Kumar, D., Arya, V., Bhat, Z. A., Khan, N. A., & Prasad, D. N. (2012). The genus Crataegus: chemical and pharmacological perspectives. Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia, 22(5), 1187-1200.
Martinelli, F., Perrone, A., Yousefi, S., Papini, A., Castiglione, S., Guarino, F., Cicatelli, A., Aelaei, M., Arad, N., Gholami, M. and Salami, S.A. (2021) Botanical, Phytochemical, Anti-Microbial and Pharmaceutical Characteristics of Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna Jacq.), Rosaceae, .
Nazhand, A., Lucarini, M., Durazzo, A., Zaccardelli, M., Cristarella, S., Souto, S.B., Silva, A.M., Severino, P., Souto, E.B. and Santini, A. (2020) Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.): An Updated Overview on Its Beneficial Properties, .
