Crataegus monogyna Jacq.

Common hawthorn

English name: Common hawthorn

Family: Rosaceae 

Botanical characteristic: A thorny shrub or tree with grey bark, growing to a height of 5 – 10 m. The leaves are three- to five-lobed, ovate, with a short petiole. Dark green on the underside, light green on the face. The white flowers form a pinnacle-shaped inflorescence. The fruit is a drupe.

Microscopic drawing:

On the surface of a transverse section of a hawthorn leaf, it is possible to observe the epidermis (a), beneath which there is a layer of palisade parenchyma (b) and fungal parenchyma. The lower epidermis is characterised by the presence of stomata (g). In the centre of the preparation are situated collateral vascular bundles formed by the lycal (e) and woody parts (f). The vascular bundles are reinforced by the sclerenchyma (d).
Cross section of a leaf (magnified 100x)

Distribution: It grows in pastures, by rivers, at the edges of forests, on hillsides, by roadsides.

Drug: Crataegi folium cum flore, Crataegi fructus

Harvesting method: The leaf with the flower is hand-picked at the beginning of flowering. Similarly, short-stalked flowers are picked at the beginning of flowering, usually in May. The stalkless fruits are hand-picked in September-October.

Drying: The hawthorn leaves with flowers and the flowers themselves are dried in a thin layer in the shade in a ventilated room. It is dried artificially at a temperature of up to 35 °C. The fruits are dried in thin layers in an airy place. They are dried by artificial heat at 70 °C.

Active substances: The most important contents undoubtedly include high levels of flavonoids (quercetin, rutin, hyperoside, vitexin), but also protoanthocyanidins, triterpenic acids, especially ursolic acid, aminopurines, saponins, catechin tannins, vitamin B and C.

Uses: Hawthorn preparations smell unpleasantly because of the aminopurines. That is why extracts in tablet form are preferred to teas. These are taken because of their ability to lower blood pressure. Hawthorn improves the blood supply to the coronary arteries nourishing the heart muscle.

Traditional method of use in indications determined solely on the basis of long-term use:

– relieving symptoms of heart muscle congestion (e.g. heart palpitations caused by stress or anxiety),

– supportive treatment of insomnia and relief of stress-induced symptoms.

Selected herbal preparations: CannamediQ HYPETEZIN cps 60 pcs, J.V. VAPS – ALMER for memory and nervous system 50 ml, J.V. KVAPKY – CIEVY herbal complex 50 ml, PEDIAKID For easier falling asleep syrup 125 ml.