HAWTHORN: HEALTH BENEFITS OF HAWTHORN, USES AND HISTORY: HAWTHORN LIQUEUR CHOCOLATE RECIPE

HAWTHORN, CRATAEGUS OXYCANTHA

The hawthorn tree is known by many names including Bread and Cheese (Bara Caws; couse as in mouse, in Welsh) May and Whitethorn. The proper Welsh name for hawthorn is Draenen Wen.  It is called Bread and Cheese because this is what the leaves are supposed to taste like, and I’ve eaten them but didn’t see much resemblance to the flavour of bread or cheese. My grandfather used to feed me the leaves if I was hungry on one of our long country walks.

   It is called whitethorn because of the whiteness of its bark, and the fruit or haws are called by many interesting names, such as Pixie Pears, Cuckoo’s Beads and Chucky Cheese. The haws look like mini apples and have stones inside them.

   Hawthorn is a member of the rose family along with the Prunus and Pyrus trees, such as plum, aloo Bukhara and peach trees (Prunus), the crab apple and Mountain Ash (Pyrus). Along with the oak and ash, it was one of the three sacred trees of the Celts.

    The Hawthorn tree is native to the British Isles and northern Europe, although others grow in other parts of the world: the Crataegus aronia is native to southern Europe, Israel and West Asia and is prized for its haws, while the C.odoratissima and C azarote are also valued for the fruit they produce. The name Crataegus comes from the Greek, kratos meaning hardness, and oxcus which means sharp and akantha meaning thorns. The German name for it is Hagedorn, which means Hedge Thorn, indicating that it was used to mark boundaries between fields. Haw also means hedge.

  Hawthorns can live for hundreds of years and according to legend the Glastonbury thorn was more than a thousand years old when it was cut down by Cromwell’s men during the Interregnum which followed the Civil War in Britain in the 17^th century. They can grow as tall as 30 feet and John Milton (1608-1674) wrote these lines; “Every shepherd tells his tale under the hawthorn in the dale.” This shows how prolific these trees once were.

   The Glastonbury Thorn was said to have sprung from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, who, legend has it, brought the blood of Christ in the Holy Grail to Glastonbury. The staff was also said to be made from a hawthorn tree, as was the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’ head before his crucifixion.(Sometimes the hawthorn is referred to as Christ’s Thorn”.) The hawthorn at Glastonbury was said to be the biggest tree in England. A smaller one now grows where the original was thought to have grown.

   The flowers of the hawthorn blossom in May and where I come from in South Wales, there’s an old saying, “Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May is out” which means that you shouldn’t stop wearing your winter clothes until the hawthorn has blossomed. It is called May because it blossoms in that month. The flowers have a smell that is said to be like that of a woman who is sexually aroused, and this gave it the reputation for being an aphrodisiac in Arabic erotic literature. In Britain the flowers are reputed to still bear the stench of the Great Plague of London of the early 17^th century.

In ancient Greece brides wore garlands of May flowers and torches made from hawthorn wood lit the way for the procession to the bridal chamber. In Wales and Ireland wreaths of hawthorn are made and left outside for the fairies or angels to find. The tree was sacred to Hymen, the Greek god of the marriage chamber, and to the goddess Maia (the Roman goddess equivalent was Flora).In ancient Greece and Rome the hawthorn was taken into homes for good luck and protection from evil spirits. In the Christian era it became a symbol of hope.

    However hawthorn also has darker associations. In Teutonic funeral rites, the wood was burned on funeral pyres in the belief that souls would be carried to the afterlife by the smoke that rose from the pyre, and so it took on a grimness which led to superstitions about it. It was believed to be a fairy tree, and the evil fairies that dwelled in it would severely punish anyone who harmed it. Celts believed that on Beltane (May Day) witches metamorphosed into hawthorn trees and the Scots Gaels though that the tree was the gateway to the other world. In Welsh legend, Merlin the magician was eternally trapped in a hawthorn tree by the most powerful of the witches, Nimue.

  Other superstitions are that if an angler has a thorn from the tree in his/her pocket, a good catch is assured. You may still see ribbons on hawthorns, or pieces of cloth, especially on trees that stand at a crossroads. These are for good luck or for wishes to be granted.

  Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII after his defeat of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, adopted the device of the hawthorn bush as one of his men found Richard’s crown on a hawthorn bush and presented it to the future king. (Henry Tudor was the father of King Henry VIII.)

  In Wales, the hawthorn is once more growing in abundance as the sheep that usually eat hawthorn saplings were culled during the foot and mouth epidemic in 200-2001. Now the trees are flourishing again and it is believed that their origins go back 12000 years or more to the last Ice Age. This is good for the migrant cuckoo population as the hawthorn trees provide caterpillars for them to feast on.

   Hawthorn protects against evil and a sprig in a barn will help cows provide and increased milk yield, according to superstition. In mediaeval times and after, cattle were given garlands of the leaves to wear to protect them from the malice of fairy folk.

  The physicians of Myddfai used hawthorn as a remedy for jaundice, “take the leaves which grow on the branches of the hawthorn and the mistletoe, boiling them in wine or good old ale, till reduced to the half, then take off the fire and strain. Drink this three times a day.”

   Traditionally the hawthorn has been used as a diuretic, a heart tonic and for its astringent qualities, which are notably in the berries and the flowers. A decoction of either has been used for sore throats and as a diuretic as well as to disperse gravel and kidney stones. A liqueur can be made from the berries by steeping them in brandy for a month. You can then strain the liquid and use the mushy berries to make chocolate liqueurs. In older times the leaves were used to adulterate tea when it was an expensive commodity in Britain.

   The wood from the tree (if anyone dares cut it) makes good fire wood and the charcoal from it can be heated to such a high temperature that it is said that pig iron can be smelted with it. The wood has also been used to carve trinkets and decorative items.

   Dioscorides in the 1^st century AD believed that hawthorn was good for heart disease, and this has proved to be the case. Today the leaves and flowers are used medicinally and the University of Maryland has said that there is “good evidence that hawthorn can treat mild – moderate heart failure.” There are flavonoids in the leaves and flowers and fewer in the berries. These help to control blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Hawthorn can help with restlessness and insomnia and increases oxygen utilization by the heart. It is also rich in vitamin C and has strong antioxidant properties. Like grapes, hawthorn contains oligomeric procyandins which have potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

   A decoction of the berries has been used as a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery due to their astringent qualities, and the berries, flowers and leaves are good for the digestive system and promote appetite. Tisanes and decoctions made from them have been used to alleviate stress and anxiety as they have a relaxing effect on the nervous system. Traditionally these tisanes and decoctions have been used to help with menopausal symptoms such as night sweats and as a vaginal douche for infections such as candida (thrush).The infusion of the flowers is particularly good for increasing the flow of blood to the heart, and when mixed with yarrow, can help relieve stress and hypertension.  Juice from the berries can be expressed and used as a digestive aid, a cardiac tonic and to stop diarrhoea. The decoction is made with 30 gr berries boiled in ½ litre of water for 15 mins, then allowed to steep for 10-15 mins. Drink a cupful 2 or 3 times a day. For a tisane wash the berries or flowers and leaves thoroughly and the pour a cupful of boiling water over them and allow them to steep for 15 mins before straining and drinking.

CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR FROM HAWTHORN BERRIES

Ingredients

1 bottle brandy

1 kilo hawthorn berries, washed and cleaned

3 large bars of chocolate

Method

Steep the berries in the brandy for a month, turning the bottle upside down once a day for two weeks. Leave in a cool dark place for the whole month.

Strain the berries and reserve.

In a heavy pan, melt the chocolate, then remove from the heat and stir the mushy berries into it so that they are well mixed.

With a metal spoon, scoop out the mixture and place on a greased baking tray. When you have finished, refrigerate so that the chocolate sets again. They are soon ready to eat.You also have hawthorn brandy, which is delicious too.

These have Taste and are a Treat.

 

WHAT IS CHOI MOI PLANT? TICKLE ME PLANT: MEDICINAL USES AND BENEFITS OF TICKLE ME PLANT: CHILD'S PET PLANT

TICKLE ME PLANT, CHOI MOI, MIMOSA PUDICA

The Tickle Me plant is called Choi Moi (pronounced chouyi mouyi) in Urdu and grows wild in Pakistan. Children love to find it and touch its leaves which immediately curl up tight. For this reason it is also called the sensitive plant, the humble plant, Touch Me Not, and probably a lot of other names all relating to its shrinking qualities; even the Latin name pudica means shy.

   There is of course a scientific explanation for this shrinking phenomenon, and this is that the stem has some areas in it which release chemicals which force water out of the cells causing them to collapse when the leaves are touched. The plant has a nyctinastic movement which means that the leaves close at night or in response to darkness, and open when exposed to light. However it captivates young children and is grown in the house in Pakistan to entertain them.

   Mimosa pudica is a pan-tropical weed and an invasive species in some parts of the United States, but before you uproot it, if it’s invading your garden, you may want to consider its health benefits. On the other hand if you grow crops that need to be hand-picked it can be a nuisance and is a problem to growers of tomatoes, sugar cane, papaya and coffee for example. However even for those farmers it has some benefits as the root nodules are nitrogen fixers so help the soil regain its balance.

 This plant has been used in traditional medicine on the Indian subcontinent for centuries, and the roots have been used for their wound healing properties, as a febrifuge (to relieve fevers), as a diuretic and for their antispasmodic and astringent properties. A decoction of the leaves or an infusion has been used to treat asthma as they have expectorant qualities. As a poultice they are used to relieve glandular swellings, and the bruised leaves are good to put on bruises. They are also used to relieve anxiety and hypertension and are a muscle relaxant according to traditional healers or hakims. In some parts of India the plant is used as a contraceptive for women, and for uterine problems. In China the plant is used to treat depression and anxiety. Although the leaves and roots are primarily used in traditional medicine the flowers and fruit (seeds) are also used.

   Surprisingly there have been many medical studies of this plant and it has been shown to be effective in treating women with uterine bleeding or menorrhagia with an extract of the root powder being used. The root extract has also been found to heal wounds and to help treat gastric ulcers, and t help in spinal cord dysfunctions. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, so is useful in treating rheumatoid inflammation. It has also shown to have antifertility properties in mice, although humans have not been tested. Mimosa pudica has also been shown to have antibacterial effects on bacteria such as E.coli, and there are studies underway to test its efficacy as an anti-cancer treatment for ovarian cancer and the new alkaloid discovered in it, mimosine, is being tested for its potential for yielding new chemotherapeutic compounds. Other studies include investigating its nerve regeneration potential and as an anti-diabetic, and anti-depressant.

   The seeds have apparently also been used as a coffee substitute, and in Ayurvedic medicine the plant is used to treat impotence and general debility. It is also used in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery, skin problems and bronchial complaints.

    If it grows in your garden, don’t be too hasty about getting rid of it.

  

COMMON OR ENGLISH IVY: MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF HEDERA HELIX, USES AND HISTORY: IVY LEAF TISANE

COMMON OR ENGLISH IVY, HEDERA HELIX

There are several types of ivy, one being ground ivy which, as its name suggests, grows on the ground, providing ground cover. However this English Ivy or Common ivy grows up walls and trees, only flowering (in late October until December and then producing berries in the following spring) when it is firmly established and has support, for example when it has reached the top of a wall and can bush out. It is an evergreen and for the Druids was a sacred plant, the female counterpart of the masculine holly. The Druids used it to bring dreams which foretold the future. Together with mistletoe and holly it is traditionally used to decorate houses at Christmas time. This is a pagan tradition which stood the test of time even though the Church banned such decorations. This ancient verse illustrates the pagan roots of the ivy:-

     On Christmass Ivy

    At Christmass men do ivy always get                                    

    And in each corner of the house it set;

    But why do they then use that Bacchus-weed?

    Because they mean, then, Bacchus-like to feed.”

This refers to the fact that Bacchus, or Dionysus, his Greek counterpart, was depicted wearing wreaths of ivy leaves on his head. The Bacchanalian rites were orgies and feasts, and the Christmas meal is probably a throwback to these times. People gorge themselves on as much rich food as they can in Britain at Christmas time, so the orgies tend not to take place anymore. Its associations with Bacchus are strong, as it grows plentifully at the reputed home of Bacchus, Nyssa. The ivy leaves also formed a poet laureate’s crown. Ivy leaves when bruised and gently boiled in wine were thought to remove the effects of a hangover by the ancient Greeks. They would also tie a vine of ivy leaves around their foreheads to prevent intoxication from drinking wine.

   Ancient Greek priests would present a newly married couple with an ivy wreath as a symbol of fidelity and steadfastness and the binding together of the couple. There is an old Celtic poem which begins “The sweet harp of Wales” which also speaks of its binding qualities.

     “And golden mistletoe I’ll bring thee,

       With ivy-bands to bind it there…”

   In Britain an ivy bush was a symbol for a tavern, and many pubs still bear the ancient name of “The Ivy Bush”, hence the saying, “Good wine needs no bush”. In other words good wine needs no advertising.

   With other evergreen plants, ivy has had its place at funerals, and it has not always been recommended as a medicine; Dioscorides writing in the first century AD believed that it caused sterility. Culpepper tells us “It is an enemy to the nerves and sinews taken inwardly, but most excellent taken outwardly.” It is a member of the ginseng family, and has been used in traditional medicine both in Europe and Asia since ancient times. The twigs of the ivy, boiled in butter were a remedy for sunburn. It has also been used to treat arthritis, burns, cancer, coughs, as an expectorant and decongestant of the lungs, for gallbladder problems, gout, inflammation, lice and other parasites, scabies, skin problems disorders of the spleen, nerve damage (neuropathy), jaundice, rheumatic diseases, duodenal ulcers and whooping cough.

   The Physicians of Myddfai (from the 8^th century AD to the early 19^th century) recommended a mixture of the “inner bark of the ivy and the leaves of the honeysuckle, bruising them well together in a mortar, expressing them through a clean linen cloth into both nostrils, the patient lying on his back” for relief from toothache.

    If you want to make a tisane from the leaves they need to be dried first and you should only use 0.3 grams in a cup of boiling water. Ivy is poisonous if taken in large doses, and should not be used for children or pregnant or lactating women.

 The leaves contain chromium, manganese and zinc and modern medical research has shown that they may help reduce blood glucose levels for treatment in cases of diabetes. Studies have also shown that an extract from the leaves can help children with asthma and adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Animal studies have shown that the leaf extract may have anti-cancer and antioxidant properties. The German Commission E has approved the leaf extract for use in the treatment of coughs and chronic inflammatory bronchial conditions as an expectorant, and it is often used in cough medicines. The leaf contains saponins and the alkaloid emetine which induces vomiting and increases mucus in the lungs, but as the ivy leaf only contains small amounts of this, it may explain why it has been traditionally used as an expectorant. The saponins appear to be responsible for preventing spasms in the bronchial area.  It has been found that ivy leaf extract is effective in increasing oxygen in the lungs and the recommended dose of the extract for children with asthma is 25 drops per day and 50 for adults with bronchitis as it is an effective anti-inflammatory in bronchial conditions. A wash made from the leaf has been used to treat yeast infections such as candida, and a cream for external use is made from ivy leaves, horsetail and Lady’s Mantle to reduce, but not eliminate stretch marks.

   Ivy is native to Europe, and North and Central Asia, but it grows in many countries, although not the Hedera helix variety. Ground ivy never flowers, so only the Common ivy has berries for the birds to feast on. Its flowers do not have any fragrance, but they do have nectar for bees, although there aren’t many around when it actually blooms. If you were born between September 30^th and October 27^th, according to the old Celtic calendar you were born under the ivy’s influence as this was the month of “Gort” or ivy.

  

 

WHAT IS DATURA? THORNAPPLE: A POISONOUS NARCOTIC PLANT

DATURA STRAMONIUM, THORNAPPLE

There are many Datura species, and some which were formerly classed as Datura have been separately categorized into the genus Brugmansia. One of these is the Trumpet Flower tree, which I first saw growing wild in southern Turkey, near Antalya. They are truly magnificent flowers although at the time I was told that they were highly poisonous; all the Datura and Brugmansia species are.

   The thornapple grows in Britain but has not really become naturalized there. However the herbalist Gerard, writing in the late 16^th century had this to say about it,

  “the juice of thornapple, boiled with hogs grease, cureth all inflammations whatsoever, all manner of burnings and scaldings, as well of fire, water, boiling lead, gunpowder, as that which comes by lightning and that in very short time, as I myself have found in daily practice, to my great credit and profit.”

Brugmansia

  At the time it grew wild and in gardens for ornamental and medicinal purposes. However it is also called stinkweed as the leaves emit a foetid stench when bruised (hence the common appellation for this plant; Stinkweed), although the flowers are quite fragrant. The leaves were once listed in all Pharmacopoeias but in the early 20^th century they were reviewed annually in some countries. They were used for respiratory purposes as they have antispasmodic effects as well as being anodyne. The leaves and seeds especially are narcotic and have been used by bandits such as the assassins in India to drug victims and cause a deep sleep as they have narcotic and sedative effects. In Turkey it is believed that they were smoked by the poor who could not afford opium. The plant used for such purposes in India was and is Datura metel (an indigenous species) which if ingested can cause acute confusion in less than one hour. In India it is used in rituals and ceremonies for the god Shiva, and the flowers are strewn in his temples. It was believed that the plant first grew from Shiva’s chest. Datura fastiosa also grows in India, where it is an indigenous species and both also grow in Pakistan.

Datura metel

  In Peru the indigenous people brewed an intoxicating drink from the seeds which could apparently cause delirium and stupefaction if taken in large doses. The Chinese use the flowers of fastiosa in herbal preparations. Arabs in Africa used to smoke the dried leaves, flowers and seeds in hookahs as a remedy for asthma and flu. Today people smoke the dried leaves and seeds for their narcotic effects as well as to relieve asthma. It is said that the inhalation of the smoke from such a mixture relaxes the muscles and kills pain as well as relieving inflammation caused by rheumatism and other ailments.

  It has been used by shamans in different cultures for predicting the future, as a way of opening the doors to communication with spirits and was thought to have been utilized in this way by the priests and priestess of Apollo at Delphi before they read the oracle.

   It has been linked to the Salem witch trials and as it causes hallucinations, it may have been integral in these. Don’t touch this plant and then rub your eyes as it can cause loss of vision. It’s one of the few wild plants that animals won’t eat, and there have been many accidental deaths because of this plant’s poisonous properties.

  The thornapple variety of Datura is thought by some to have originated in Russia, around the Black Sea, as it grows wild as far as Siberia from that region. The Indian varieties are thought to have been spread to Europe by gypsies. Some species are native to the South American continent and were found by the early Jamestown colonists who recorded its effects. It is from this that it gets the names Jamestown-weed and Jimson-weed, the latter being a corruption of the former name. However it also goes by some other more colourful names such as Devil’s apple, Devil’s Trumpet, and Apple of Peru.

     It gets the name Thornapple from the seed pod which has spines on its outer casing. The seeds have the ability to remain dormant for long periods and can then germinate when conditions are right.

 Both the Nazis and the Americans investigated the plant for its truth telling potential but it would seem that the results of their experiments were inconclusive.

  The plant looks pretty, smells awful and is extremely dangerous and can kill,like aak, so the best advice is to steer clear of it and only use it when prescribed by a physician who knows what he/she is doing. It is psychotropic and can cause hallucinations which may not always be as happy as some would have you believe. It isn’t an upper by any stretch of the imagination.