The one-handled and the two-handled hawthorn are native to the whole Europe, besides, the other hawthorn species originate from the Balkan Peninsula, from the Eastern Mediterranean areas, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. The drug material is imported from Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
Use of hawthorn
In herbal medicine, the most common use is the dried leaves along with the flowers (Crataegi folium cum flore).
Less commonly, and then mainly in homeopathy, the hawthorn fruits are used. However, of the hawthorn fruits there is no positive monograph of the Commission E.
Since the wood of the hawthorn is very hard, it is used for the manufacture of walking sticks, toys and the like.
Hawthorn and its characteristics
Hawthorn is a usually strongly branched shrub 2-5 m high or a tree up to 10 m high. The plant has thorny branches and oval, lobed and finely toothed leaves. Furthermore, hawthorn bears white flowers arranged in broad umbels, the smell of which attracts many insects for pollination. The fleshy fruits are red when ripe.
In herbal medicine, hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), in particular, is used, but also the two-stemmed hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata), which often interbreed. Other species used are:
- Crataegus azarolus
- Crataegus pentagyna as well as
- Crataegus cuneata in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Hawthorn as a medicine
Part of the drug material are the dark brown, woody pieces of stem and lobed leaves with slightly serrated edges and more or less hairy. Especially on the lighter underside of the leaves you can see the leaf veins. The corolla leaves can be recognized by their yellowish-white to brownish coloration.
Hawthorn leaves give off a somewhat peculiar, faintly fragrant odor. The taste of the drug is slightly sweet, somewhat bitter and astringent.
