Common hawthorn

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Common hawthorn
Common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)

Common hawthorn ( Crataegus monogyna )

Systematics
Family : Rose family (Rosaceae)
Subfamily : Spiraeoideae
Tribe : Pyreae
Sub tribus : Pome fruit family (Pyrinae)
Genre : Hawthorns ( Crataegus )
Type : Common hawthorn
Scientific name
Crataegus monogyna
Jacq.

The intervention Lige Hawthorn ( Crataegus monogyna ), also Hagedorn (from Middle High German hagen thorn ), a plant of the genus hawthorn that the pome fruit crops (Pyrinae) within the family of the rose plants include (Rosaceae). The two German names refer to the structure and color of the flowers or the location (Haag, Hecke), the botanical to the healing power of the plant (crataegus = "strong, powerful").

distribution

The common hawthorn is the most common hawthorn species in Central Europe ; it also grows in the Middle East as far as Afghanistan . It prefers the proximity of hedges, bushes and forest edges and calcareous soils. In Central Europe it usually thrives in societies of the Prunetalia order, but also occurs in societies of the Quercetalia pubescentis, Fagetalia or the Erico-Pinion association.

description

The single hawthorn is a shrub or small tree that reaches heights of two to six, rarely up to twelve meters and is difficult to distinguish from other hawthorn species. The bark is dark brown with orange cracks. It has branches with numerous strong thorns and dense crowns. Its 5–7 centimeter long leaves are divided up to half into three to seven lobes with serrated tips; there are tufts of hair in the nerve axils. The flowers appear from May to June and are arranged in groups of 5–25. The hermaphrodite, radially symmetrical , five-fold, white flowers have a diameter of 8-15 millimeters. Its many stamens are red. You only have one stylus . The slightly elongated 8-10 millimeters long, egg-shaped, fleshy fruits are dark red and contain only a (stone) core.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 34.

Plants from northern Europe, for example from Schleswig-Holstein to the north, differ from the clans further south in that they have a more hairy calyx. They used to be a separate subspecies Crataegus monogyna subsp. nordica Franco was differentiated This is usually no longer differentiated today, since the features gradually merge into one another.

  • Common hawthorn. Flowers with five white petals and a stylus

  • Double fluted hawthorn. Flowers with five white petals and two styles

  • Fruit with a stylus and seed

ecology

The single hawthorn is a winter-bare deciduous shrub, more rarely a tree, on whose young shoots there are preferably shoot thorns that serve to protect against eating.

The flowers are pre-female "disc flowers" with hidden nectar . The scent from amines is pleasant from a distance, but is perceived as unpleasant by many close up, because it is reminiscent of the smell of cockchafer or fish. Pollinators are especially flies , but also bees .

Flowering time is from May to June.

The fruits are berry-like apple fruits. The inner part of the pericarp becomes a stone core when ripe, which is surrounded by a fleshy flower cup, thus creating a stone apple. Birds peel off the fleshy part, spreading the stone core. In mammals, the stone core spreads as an intestinal or storage area, the latter especially in rodents. The species is a winter bird, so the brownish fruits are always eaten first.

Fruit ripens in September.

The hawthorn bush is a pasture for bees in summer and an important source of food for some species of birds (such as thrushes and waxwings ) in winter . Due to their dense branching and thorns, hawthorn hedges are difficult to access and an ideal breeding ground. The red-backed shrike finds enough thorns here to spear its prey. Numerous species of butterflies such as the sail butterfly ( Iphiclides podalirius ), the copper motherfucker ( Gastropacha quercifolia ) or the golden juvenile ( Euproctis chrysorrhoea ) serve as caterpillar forage plants .

The light to partial shade plant grows in deciduous and mixed forests, on the edges of forests, hedges, field trees and on rocky slopes on dry to fresh soils. The hawthorn is soil tolerant, preferring calcareous, loamy soils, but does not tolerate salty soils. It occurs almost everywhere in Europe , including northwestern Africa and western Asia . The single-acting hawthorn is often grown.

pharmacology

Common hawthorn in the form of a leaf drug with flowers (Crataegi folium cum flore)

Blossoms (Crataegi flos), fruits (Crataegi fructus) and blossoms and leaves together (Crataegi folium cum flore) are used as medicinal drugs.

Extracts from the above-mentioned ingredients are available on the market in numerous ready-to-use preparations and are based on the presumed main active ingredients flavonoids or oligomeric proanthocyanidins . The main active ingredients of the hawthorn have a high antioxidant capacity in common, in the fruits (Crataegi fructus) the following antioxidant substances could be isolated: chlorogenic acid , the catechins catechin and epicatechin, the flavonoids rutin , quercetin and vitexin-2-O-rhamnoside the flavone hyperoside , Procyanidin B2. The proanthocyanidins are probably responsible for the vascular relaxing effect of Crataegus monogyna.

Hawthorn preparations increase the pumping power of the heart, improve blood flow to the coronary arteries and reduce the consumption of oxygen and energy when the heart works. Accordingly, the preparations are used for mild cardiac insufficiency due to old age or after infectious diseases or for other mild heart complaints. A Swiss double-blind study with 143 participants was able to confirm the positive effects of a hawthorn berry extract in patients with heart failure stage NYHA II. In the case of other cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure or coronary heart disease, the use of hawthorn preparations as a support could have a positive effect on the course of the disease.

Hawthorn preparations are less suitable for acute illnesses than for long-term prevention and follow-up treatment.

In any case, a doctor should clarify whether there is a serious heart condition.

The mode of action is not similar to that of cardiac glycosides; Hawthorn preparations are often used to support and complement digital therapy.

Other uses

The leaves are also used as a tea or tobacco substitute, ground seeds as a coffee substitute. The dried pulp of the "whitebeam" was eaten in times of need - either ground into a kind of flour or processed as a puree. Sometimes it is also added to schnapps as a flavoring agent. In all of these uses, the medicinal efficacy described above should not be ignored.

The single hawthorn is ideal as an ornamental plant , but also as a hedge plant, as it can be pruned back easily. Because of its thorns it is recommended as a bird protection tree.

Various red-flowering cultivars are referred to as "hawthorn", which were created with the participation of Crataegus laevigata . Popular is z. B. the cultivar `Pauli`, with bright carmine-red, double flowers. It is not inherited and can therefore only be propagated vegetatively.

Bastards

There are numerous hybrids , some of which are planted as ornamental plants in gardens. The best known is the middle hawthorn or bastard hawthorn ( Crataegus × media Bechst. / Crataegus monogyna Jacq. × Crataegus laevigata Poir. ), Of which there are several varieties as a garden form . Another is the large-fruited hawthorn ( Crataegus × macrocarpa Hegetschw. / Crataegus monogyna Jacq. × Crataegus rhipidophylla Gandoger ).

Refinement document

The single hawthorn is also suitable as a refining base for pears , quinces and medlars ; but since it is prone to fire blight, it is rarely used for this purpose.

Common names

The common German-language common names Aschrösslein ( Ulm ), Christdorn ( Silesia ), Doorn ( Northern Germany , Low German ), Doornbusch (Northern Germany, Low German), Eggendorn ( Bern ), Our dear women Birlein, Our dear women exist for the common hawthorn Birnchen, Birnlein, Hagapfelstrauch, Hagdoorn ( Holstein ), Hage ( Middle Low German ), Hagen (Middle Low German), Hachtun (do in the sense of fence, Middle Low German), Haichtun (Middle Low German), Hagdurn ( Mecklenburg ), Hagedoorn ( East Friesland ), Hageapfelstrauch, Hagebusch (Middle High German), Hagelbusch (Middle High German), Hagenboum, Hagenbusch (Middle High German), Haghedorn, Hagin, Haginbaum, Haindorn, Handorn ( Eifel near Nürnburg), Hanelpeffe, Haweide ( Göttingen ), Haweife (Middle Low German), Haweike (Haweike (Middle Low German) (, Middle Low German), Haynerholz (Silesia), Heckdorn, Heckenweissdorn, Heckedorn (Middle High German), Hegedorn, Heggebeeristrauc h (Bern), Heinzerleinsdorn (Henneberg), Hoghedorn, Hundsdorn, Mehlbaum (Silesia, Austria ), Mehlbeerboom, Mehlbeerbusch (Mecklenburg, Schleswig-Holstein ), Mehlbeerstaude (Austria), Mehldorn (Silesia), flour kegs, Mehlfäustelstaude, Mehlfäustelstaude, Mehlfeserzen Mehlhagedorn, Flourhose wood, flour plotting, flour bush, Möllerbrod, Saubeeri (Bern), Thelsbirli tree (Bern), rowanberry (Bern), Webdüörn ( Altmark ), hawthorn, Witdoren (Göttingen), Wittdäörn (Altmark) and Wittdoorn (Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg) .

photos

  • Leaves and thorns

  • Stipules

  • Long shoot with buds. The terminal bud is usually larger than the side buds.

  • Short shoots with buds

  • blossoms

  • blossom

  • fruit

  • illustration

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas. 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 508-509.
  2. ^ J. do Amaral Franco: Crataegus. In TG Tutin, VH Heywood, NA Burges, DM Moore, DH Valentine, SM Walters, DA Webb (eds.): Flora Europaea. Volume 2: Rosaceae to Umbelliferae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1968, ISBN 0-521-06662-X , at page 76.
  3. ^ W. Lippert (1978): On the structure and distribution of the genus Crataegus in Bavaria. Reports of the Bavarian Botanical Society 49: 165-198.
  4. ^ GH Loos: Crataegus. In: Henning Haeupler , Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany (= the fern and flowering plants of Germany. Volume 2). Published by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 .
  5. ↑ J. Bernatoniene, R. Masteikova, D. Majiene, A. Savickas, E. Kevelaitis, R. Bernatoniene, K. Dvorácková, G. Civinskiene, R. Lekas, K. Vitkevicius, R. Peciūra: Free radical-scavenging activities of Crataegus monogyna extracts. In: Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). Volume 44, Number 9, 2008, ISSN  1648-9144 , pp. 706-712. PMID 18971609 .
  6. ↑ SH Kim, KW Kang, KW Kim, ND Kim: Procyanidins in crataegus extract evoke endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in rat aorta. In: Life Sci . 67, 2000, pp. 121-131. PMID 10901280 .
  7. ^ MH Pittler, R. Guo, E. Ernst: Hawthorn extract for treating chronic heart failure. In: Cochrane database of systematic reviews (online). Number 1, 2008, p. CD005312, ISSN  1469-493X . doi: 10.1002 / 14651858.CD005312.pub2 . PMID 18254076 . (Review).
  8. ↑ FH Degenring, A. Suter, M. Weber, R. Saller: A randomized double blind placebo controlled clinical trial of a standardized extract of fresh Crataegus berries (Crataegisan) in the treatment of patients with congestive heart failure NYHA II. In: Phytomedicine . 10, 2003, pp. 363-369. PMID 12833999 .
  9. ↑ MC Tassell, R. Kingston, D. Gilroy, M. Lehane, A. Furey: Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) In the treatment of cardiovascular disease. In: Pharmacognosy reviews. Volume 4, number 7, January 2010, ISSN  0973-7847 , pp. 32-41, doi: 10.4103 / 0973-7847.65324 . PMID 22228939 , PMC 3249900 (free full text).
  10. ↑ SM Zick, BM Vautaw, B. Gillespie, KD Aaronson: Hawthorn Extract Randomized Blinded Chronic Heart Failure (HERB CHF) Trial. In: European Journal of Heart Failure . 11, 2009, pp. 990-999, doi: 10.1093 / eurjhf / hfp116 .
  11. ↑ S. Zick, B. Gillespie, K. Aaronson: The effect of Crataegus oxycantha special extract WS 1442 on clinical progression in patients with mild to moderate symptoms of heart failure? In: European Journal of Heart Failure. 10, 2008, pp. 587-593, doi: 10.1016 / j.ejheart.2008.04.008 .
  12. ↑ Wolfgang Schiedermair: The "Meelbyrn, Paliurus" in Adam Lonitzer's "Kreuterbuch" (1679). For knowledge of X Sorbopyrus auricularis (Kroop.) Schneid. - Rose hip pear. In: Medical historical messages. Journal for the history of science and specialist prose research. Volume 34, 2015 (2016), pp. 87–96, here: pp. 90 f.
  13. ↑ Detlev Henschel: Edible wild berries and plants . Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-440-09154-6 , p. 210 .
  14. ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, p. 117. (online)

Web links

Commons : Common Hawthorn  album with pictures, videos and audio files