The hawthorn genus has many species, more than a dozen of them are found in Russia. Among them, hawthorn blood-red (blood-red) has the greatest value as a medicinal plant. It is a small tree with purple-brown shiny shoots. Hawthorn trunks and branches are usually studded with thorns, leaves are regular, with leaflets, usually hairy on both sides.
Hawthorn blooms in May and June and is very beautiful at this time. Its white or pinkish flowers have a pleasant fragrance.
Hawthorn fruits from the end of August, its fruits are bright red, very rarely orange-yellow. In the forests, hawthorn fruits are left hanging until winter, until they are pecked by birds. Against the background of white snow brightly colored hawthorn berries actually resemble blood splashes and say that its Russian name - hawthorn blood-red - this shrub was not accidentally received.
Hawthorn is unpretentious to external conditions. If it appears in the garden among cultivated plants, it will require almost no care.
Where does hawthorn grow
.Hawthorn is widely distributed in Russia. It is found in the eastern regions of the forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones of European Russia, as well as in Western and Eastern Siberia, including Transbaikalia.
It usually grows in lightened dry forests, on edges and glades, in steppe ravines, on meadows, in valleys, on mountain slopes, along river floodplains.
The main reserves of blood-red hawthorn are concentrated in the Altai and Krasnoyarsk Territories, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, Kurgan, Omsk and Tyumen Regions.
What's useful in hawthorn?"
.The chemical composition of the fruits, flowers and other parts of hawthorn is currently studied quite well. Hawthorn fruits contain choline, acetylcholine, organic acids (crategous acid, citric acid, tartaric acid), fatty acids (arachidonic acid, palmitic acid, myristic acid, stearic acid), unsaturated fatty acids (butyric acid, linoleic acid).
The presence of triterpene acids in hawthorn has been established: oleanic, ursolic and krategic acids. In addition, the fruits contain waxy and tannins, sugar, proteins, ascorbic acid, amygdalin.
Caffeic and chlorogenic acids, hyperoside, quercetin, acetylcholine, and trimethylamine (which has an unpleasant herring smell) have been found in hawthorn flowers. Flowers contain up to 75% essential oil, vitamins C, A, magnesium and aluminum salts, sodium, calcium, chlorides, carbonates, sulfates, tannins.
More recently, the presence of triterpene acids - oleanic, ursolic acids - in hawthorn flowers has been pointed out.
The bark contains the glucoside esculin (krategin) and the leaves have phytoncides.
The main active medicinal substance, are crystalline coloring substances of orange and red color - flavone glucosides. Flavonoids are biologically active compounds found in many medicinal plants.
This group of natural compounds got its name from the Latin word flavum - "yellow", as many substances of this group have a characteristic yellow color.
Flavonoids, in addition to hawthorn, are rich in such medicinal plants as immortelle sandy, ergot, St. John's wort, common sawdust and many others.
Medicinal plants containing flavonoids are prescribed for hypertension, liver disease, heart disease, etc. д.
For medicinal purposes, hawthorn preparations are used in functional disorders of cardiac activity, liquid extract of hawthorn fruit is part of the drug cardiovalena.
How to use hawthorn
.Some species of hawthorns are specially grown in gardens, it is planted in parks and squares. It is very attractive at any time of the year. It is adorned with white flowers in spring and bright red fruits in fall and winter. A special effect to the shrub is given by the coloring of the bark of trunks and branches. The bark of old hawthorn trunks is dark gray with cracks, and on young shoots - shiny red-brown.
Hawthorn is also successfully used to create hedges. This plant can easily tolerate shearing and also has many strong thorns that make it indispensable for creating fences around gardens and parks.
Hawthorn fruit can be used for food. Their pulp is rich in carbohydrates, in addition, contains carotene, tannin and pectin substances, many useful acids (malic, citric, tartaric, ascorbic, etc.).). Hawthorn fruits are not only useful, but also very pleasant to taste. The flavor qualities of hawthorn especially improve after the first frost. Then the fruit becomes much sweeter. This is because some of the tannins that give hawthorn fruit its astringent flavor are destroyed by exposure to cold.
Hawthorn fruit is eaten fresh. From them you can make fillings for caramel and marmalade, you can use them for compotes and soursels. Hawthorn jam is also quite delicious.
For long-term storage, hawthorn fruits are dried and candied. Dried fruits are sometimes ground, and the powder obtained in this way is added to flour, from which sweet dough is made for baking buns, cookies. Hawthorn fruit and leaves are often brewed instead of tea.
For the sake of tasty fruits, gardeners specially breed some species of hawthorn. Most commonly grown are the oriental hawthorn with fragrant fruits and the Pontic hawthorn.
Hawthorn is used in the national economy. The leaves and especially the bark were formerly used to dye wool and fabrics in red and brown colors. The hard, durable hawthorn wood is used to make lathes, handles for various tools and gardening implements. The bark can also serve as a tanning agent..
