HAWTHORN BERRY (Crataegus monogyna)

Available either as a dried herb or herbal tincture.

Please note this is a nutritional, functional horse food supplement and not veterinary medicine. See Dr Kellon's Horse Sense - 'Nutrition is not 'Alternative' Therapy.

Tincture

Our human-grade, certified organic tinctures give you a ready-to-absorb potent source of phytonutrients at the highest-strength available, for immediate absorption straight into the bloodstream and to the body’s cells.

100% certified organic pure tincture: Crataegus oxycanthoides (Hawthorn) Berry Fresh Infused 1:3 35% , Organic Cultivated

Feed Guide

• Horse - 30-40ml / Pony - 15-20ml, daily in feed.
• Always shake the bottle to disperse any sediment.
• 3-year shelf-life.

Dried Herb

Produced to ecological standards and free from agro-chemicals.

Certified organic dried herb: Crataegus oxycanthoides (Hawthorn) Berry, Organic Cultivated , Origin Bulgaria

Feed Guide

• 5g/100kg bodyweight per day, thus for an average 500kg horse add 25g daily to feed.
• 1-year shelf-life.

Functional Nutritional Value

Constituents: Bioflavonoids (vitexin, rutin, quercetin, and hyperoside), triterpenoids, oligomeric proanthocyanins (epicatechin and procyanidins), phenolic acids, polyphenols, tannins.

NB. Our range of botanicals are all grown, harvested and dried without the use of agri-chemicals, non-irradiated and GMO free - see our Quality page for Quality Management & Certification Documents. Laboratory tested for identification and compliance to the British and European Pharmacopoeia standards, and are human grade. Please be aware that if you're purchasing our dried botanicals for human use, our dried range is cut to appropriate sizes for feeding to horses.

More ...

The beautiful hawthorn tree shares certain characteristics of her rose family (Rosaceae) relatives, including bearing thorns like roses and producing edible fruits like apple, pear, apricot, and cherry trees. There are nearly 300 species of hawthorn, which takes its name from the Old English term haw , which means ‘hedge’, hinting at the popularity of the common hawthorn tree ( Crataegus monogyna ) as a hedgerow shrub in England and Ireland

In England, the lovely blossoms appear in May, where in olden times the tree was tied with ribbons during Beltane (May Day) to make wishes and ask for blessings from the supernatural.

The leaves, flowers, and fruit of C. monogyna are used as herbal support and food in Western herbalism, with its primary use as a superior cardiac tonic being known since the 1800s, after an Irish physician named Greene became well-known for success among his heart patients with a hawthorn berry extract. In 1896, an American physician in Chicago, Dr. Jennings, published a letter in the New York Medical Journal reporting success in giving his own heart patients hawthorn, proclaiming:

“Crataegus spp. is superior to any other of the well known and tried remedies at present in use in the treatment of heart disease… [and] …it may be regarded as specific, or the nearest approach to a specific, in the following cardiac diseases: Angina pectoris, valvular deficiency, with or without enlargement, endo-myo and pericarditis, tachycardia, rheumatism (co-called) of the heart, cardiac neuralgias, from whatever cause, palpitation, vertigo, apoplexy, dropsy, and functional derangements (Ellingwood, 1919).”

Today, herbalists use hawthorn extract (from berry, leaf, and/or flower) as a general cardiac tonic, a cardiac trophorestorative, and for cases of angina, high blood pressure, early stages of congestive heart failure, and atherosclerosis (Murray, 1995). It is the go-to herb for many heart-related conditions, including support after a heart attack.

The flavonoids (proanthocyanidins and anthocyanidins) in hawthorn extract are thought to promote these actions, with the berries, leaves, and flowers also used for their nervine and anti-inflammatory actions.

Naturopathic physician Michael T. Murray (1995) wrote that hawthorn’s flavonoids help protect and stabilise the collagen matrix within the artery by cross-linking the fibres, scavenging free radicals, and inhibiting the release of inflammatory agents. Maintaining sound arterial integrity and protecting the arterial walls from lesions discourage cholesterol deposits, while also inhibiting oxidation.

Hawthorn is also a calming nervine and is used much like rose, and often with rose, to soothe, open, and protect the energetic heart. The very well known Americal herbalist, Rosemary Gladstar, cites hawthorn berry as her first choice for sadness, grief, and loss or when the heart needs a bit of extra protection.

Known as the Lady of May, hawthorn carries a rich magical tradition, and is associated with the sacred Christian crown of thorns, Celtic Beltane rites, a Welsh goddess who scattered a trail of hawthorn petals that became the Milky Way, and with Joseph of Arimathea, who is said to have brought the hawthorn tree to England along with the Holy Grail.

Superstitions about the tree still abound in many places where it is considered bad luck to cut down a hawthorn, which is both celebrated and respected, but often feared. Even Harry Potter has got in on the act - hawthorn wood is used to make wands!

We blend Hawthorn Berry into our CalmTonic and WildVits; Hawthorn Flowering Tops & Leaves are blended into our LKLCARE and LymphCARE; both the Berry & Flowering Tops & Leaves are blended into our WildFed.

Safety

• Hawthorn is considered a completely safe herb.