It’s been a busy week so far gathering the last of the blackberries, the first of the rosehips and lots and lots of lovely hawthorn berries. I don’t think I really have a favourite herbal plant, there are so many to love and admire, but if I had to choose one then hawthorn would certainly be a strong contender.
The Hawthorn is a beautiful and elegant tree, with a rich lore of mythology and magic behind it, however it still remains very much human in scale. Growing in practically every hedgerow, it’s easily accessible and offers us medicine in the form of its flowers, leaves and berries. Whenever I see hawthorn, which is pretty much everywhere round here, I think ‘friend’.
Hawthorn is fascinating medicinally because it’s one of the few Western herbal adaptogens, loosely meaning it helps to bring the body into balance, irrespective of whether it is over or under functioning whilst being safe and non-toxic. Widely used as a heart tonic it can help lower high blood pressure and will benefit almost any problem that affects the heart or circulatory system, from high cholesterol to chilblains. It helps to dilate coronary arteries, improving circulation and bringing relief from angina. It also increases the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively by improving the contractility of the muscle and its high levels of antioxidants help to protect the capillaries.
What is particularly interesting though is that whilst here in the West hawthorn is used almost exclusively as a heart tonic, it has been used quite differently by other cultures and in other ages. Culpepper, writing in the 17th Century, tells us it is ‘singularly good against the stone and… for the dropsy’ implying it was mainly used as a urinary tonic, possibly because, being a member of the rose family, it has some astringency. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, where it’s known as shān zhā, it’s been used predominantly as an aid to digestion, to help the body assimilate fats and as an aid to liver function. In Ayurveda the berries are considered sour and heating, so not suitable for Pitta types in excess. In the Yoga of Herbs the authors write, ‘Hawthorn berries are a good example of the stimulatory power of sour herbs for both circulation and digestion. They have a special action on the heart, strengthening the heart muscle and promoting longevity. They are particularly good for Vata heart conditions like nervous palpitations, or the heart problems of old age (the age of Vata) like cholesterol and arteriosclerosis.’
The flowers are soothing and nervine and many herbalists combine preparations of flower and berry to get the benefits of both. You can read more about the flowers in my earlier post here.
I like to prepare my berries in alcohol or vinegar as well as drying a good number for use in decoctions. To make a decoction simmer two teaspoons of dried berries in a cup of water for 15 mins and drink three times daily.
A delicious herbal vinegar can be made by filling a jar with hawthorn berries, either alone or combined with rosehips and covering in apple cider vinegar then leaving to infuse for a month or so before straining and rebottling. Remember to use a plastic lid as metal with go black and nasty.
Tincture can be made in a similar way by covering the berries in vodka or brandy. This year I made a simple hawthorn tincture in vodka and another in which I combined the berries with rosehip and ginger in a mixture of port and brandy, yum. Let infuse for 2-3 weeks before straining and rebottling.
A lovely way to use hawthorn berries is to dry and powder them. They can then be used in numerous ways by adding a little of the powder to smoothies, soups, cookies, breakfast cereal or just about anything else. They are tough though and have a stone in the middle which needs removing (due to toxicity) so it can be easier to just buy them already powdered from a good herbal supplier. If you want to make your own powder you can mash the whole berry with you hands and the tiniest bit of water then push through a sieve, removing the stone, and spread the resulting pulp out to dry on baking paper or silicon sheets. When completely dry, powder in a high power blender or grinder.
Hawthorn, you truly are a heroine!
Lusach has a beautiful post on making hawthorn berry decoctions here, which is well worth a read.
References:
Culpepper’s Complete Herbal – Nicholas Culpepper
Medical Herbalism – David Hoffman
The Yoga of Herbs – Dr. David Frawley and Dr. Vasant Lad
Hi Lucinda,
How do you deal with the hard seed inside the berry when grinding? Or are you cutting it out before drying?
Your berries are quite a different shape to the ones here, more elongated (ours are rounder).
cheers,
Lus.
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Hi Lus,
What I do is mash up the berries by hand and push through a sieve. Then I dry the remaining mush on a dehydrator sheet. On reflection I don’t know if this would work if you didn’t have a dehydrator as they’d possibly go mouldy first.
There are a few hawthorns round here that have berries that are rounder and larger, I’m not sure if they are a different variety or if it just varies between individual plants. It would be interesting to find out.
On reading your comment I remembered your lovely hawthorn berry post so I’ve added a link in the bottom of this one.
Lucinda
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Yum!
To see all this delicious berries makes my mouth watering…
In New Zealand we just start to use hawthorn leaves in salad *g
Have you ever made a hawthorn syrup?
It can be poured over yogurt, pan cakes or what ever your heart desires.
For 1 cup hawth add 3 cups water and let simmer for 10 minutes. Then mash with a potato masher or blend in a mixer.
Strain through a sieve and add a cup sugar or honey.
Keep in the fridge. Don’t know how long it could be stored since we finish it within a week 🙂
For different tastes just use spices like cinnamon, orange peel…
Have fun!
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For the different shape of the fruits, as far as I know they are different species but there are so many different hawthorns I don’t know which is which.
In my area is one hawthorn with the long berries and 2 other with the short round berries Lus has prescribed.
Their leaves are also a bit different so I assume they are different species…
Anyway, the medicinal effect should be the same and the taste… is the same 🙂
I hope to find more time to study this awesome plant… maybe we can team up 😉
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Hey Brigitte,
How lovely. The leaves seem a long way away now with winter before us, but the seasons seem to pass so quickly! It doesn’t seem long ago that you and Lus were writing bout berries and we were writing about flowers and leaves!
I’ll try the syrup, I’ve made a combined one with rosehips before but never with just the hawthorn berries alone so I’ll give it a go. I quite like the taste even though it’s a little sour.
Thanks for the berry shape information. We have two main wild Hawthorn species here in the UK but then lots of cultivars that may have spread. I will look up and see what I can discover about the berry shapes.
it would be great to team up to study hawthorn, and other plants too. i learn so much from reading other people’s perspectives and especially your lovely blog.
In the spring I took drop doses of the hawthorn flower tincture a few times a day and it really shifted stuff for me. I’ll be trying the same thing with the berry tincture and maybe a combination of the two to see what effect it has in this subtle way.
love and leaves xxx
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I love the idea of teaming up too. It’s so good to see what other people are doing with handson herbalism and plant work.
I’ve found hawthorn tincture shifts heart energy and grief for me too. I’ve worked mostly with the berry tincture, but am starting with the flower tincture now that I made last spring. It is so different to the berry one, very strong in that almondy taste, and joyful. Will be interested to hear how you find the combination.
Brigitte, I didn’t know there was the long berried one in NZ. Is it naturalised or in people’s gardens/parks?
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Awesome!
So lets team up!
I will send you an email with some ideas 😉
Lusach I guess the hawthorn with the long haws has been planted many years ago…
I found it in a park where as the other are in a forest and hedgerow.
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[…] As the year progresses I’ll be posting about the changes I observe, the medicines I make and any other thoughts or inspirations that she evokes. As soon as the weather warms up a bit I’ll be out with my sketch pad too! I’ve written about Hawthorn a couple of times before looking at the blossoms here and the berries here. […]
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[…] in jellies, its wood used for carving and the plant as a whole used for hedging. At the wise blog Whispering Earth, Lucinda the herbalist has lots more to tell you about this most common and uncommon […]
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Hi
Just recentally, I came to know that hawthorn will keep BP low and cure other diseases. I dont know whether it is found in Bhutan or not. Bhutan is located 200-7000 feet above the sea level. I am looking for this tree…..
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Good luck Bumpa. Unfortunately I know nothing about the flora of Bhutan but I am sure that even if you can’t find Hawthorn, there will be something else in your area that could help. Maybe a local herbalist would be able to help you out?
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[…] the best recipe? Well, if you’re a fan of drinking alcohol, this hawthorn berry recipe by a British natural health blogger is hard to […]
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HI Do you have a recommended amount of dried hawthorn berries to liquid for both the tincture and the herbal vinegar? I have my ingredients ready to go and excited to make just not clear on amounts. Thank you!
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Hi Joy, sorry for taking a long time to reply. I’m guessing you have made your tinctures now. You can usually just do it to cover, so the jar is fairly full of berries and the liquid just covers them. With lighter herbs you have to push them under the surface of the liquid but berries are dense enough that you don’t have to so much.
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