04/05/2025
One of my favourite herbs 🌿 we use it often in our clinic 💚
🌿 Herb of the Month: Hawthorn - Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata 🌿
There are over 200 specis of Hawthorn, however Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus laevigata are usually used in medicinal preparations. Hawthorn is a cardiotonic, hypotensive, and helps to dissolve cholesterol and calcium deposits which can form plaques in arteries. One phytoconstituent called epicatechin, helps to repair heart and skeletal muscle, making it good for people who have been over-exercising or who experienced long term cardiac symptoms from stress and anxiety.
It works best when flowers, leaves and berries are all taken together, but the berries by themselves are full of procyanidins, which also modulate gut microbiota and heal the intestinal barrier, inhibit insulin resistance, oxidative stress and liver inflammation – making it good choice for those who have hypertension contributed to by high alcohol consumption past or present.
In folklore Hawthorn has a bit of a mixed reputation. It is associated with death, the symbol of spring, fertility and abundance, unlucky to bring in the house, except for in ancient Rome, where a sprig was hung over baby’s cradles for good luck. It is the symbol of the heart, the home of fairies (roads in Ireland were rerouted as recently as 1999 to avoid destroying a hawthorn hedge), and protects you from lightning.
Some of the folklore is rooted in truth, for example trimethylamine, found in hawthorn blossom, is also one of the first chemicals formed in decaying animal tissue - we would once have been far more familiar with that scent, so perhaps its unsurprising Hawthorn became associated with the afterlife.
A famous Hawthorn grows in Glastonbury, where according to legend, Joseph of Arimathea visited with the Holy Grail and thrust his staff into Wearyall Hill, which then grew into the original thorn tree, which flowers at Christmas as well as summer. Sadly the original was removed during the civil war, and two more trees have been replaced since!
Note: When taking herbs, we recommend seeking the advice of a qualified medical herbalist.
