Hawthorn flower is a universal remedy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. They contain the largest amount of vitamins, but it must be borne in mind that sometimes the correct collection and storage plays the most important role.
When collecting flowers, you run the risk of bringing a flower beetle into the house, which will completely destroy your workpiece within a few months.
To avoid this, hawthorn flowers and leaves must be collected in a strictly allotted period, and some of them used as a tincture, which will allow you to use the beneficial properties of hawthorn all winter.
Description
Hawthorn has long been one of the most famous plants among the people due to its beneficial properties. Most often it can be found under the name of a boyar or a lady-tree. In fact, this plant is a small tall shrub or tree, sometimes reaching a height of 5 m. It is noteworthy that all the branches of the hawthorn are covered with small thorns. Since the hawthorn belongs to the Rosaceae family, the flowerscan be both white and pale pink. The main period of their appearance begins from the end of May and continues until July. Since the plant is honey-bearing, hawthorn flowers, whose beneficial properties are valued all over the world, spread a rather unpleasant smell around them at a distance of several meters, designed to attract insects, which are responsible for their pollination.
Despite the fact that the fruits of this plant are rather small, round or oblong in shape, their full ripening occurs only at the end of August. The color of the berries, depending on the variety of hawthorn, can vary from red or black to rich orange. The flesh of the fruit is fleshy, slightly astringent, but quite sweet in taste.
Growing places
Most often, people's interest is attracted not by berries, but by hawthorn flowers, the medicinal properties of which allow the plant to compete even with such a leader in the content of vitamins in its composition, like wild rose. You can find hawthorn, in particular, in rare deciduous dry forests, in close proximity to river floodplains or on the edges.
In rare cases, you can find a few bushes in the fields far from the forest. This is explained simply, birds that eat both beetles that feed on hawthorn seeds, and the seeds themselves, making flights, defecate. The seed enters the soil with a share of natural fertilizer, thanks to which it quickly takes root and begins to grow rapidly.
OnToday in the world there are a large number of various species of hawthorn, only in the territories of the post-Soviet space there are more than 40 species, among which the most famous is the blood-red hawthorn, most often used for treatment.
Vitamin content
Since hawthorn flowers are the most beneficial, medicinal properties and contraindications must be carefully studied before proceeding with direct collection. Of course, not only flowers, but also fruits, leaves and bark can be used to prepare medicines, however, it must be borne in mind that the vitamin content in flowers is much higher than in other parts of the plant.
First of all, decide for what purpose you are going to harvest hawthorn. And then, based on the content of useful elements, choose which part of the plant will bring more benefits to your body. The hawthorn flower contains a large amount of essential oils, various acids, micro and macro elements. Of course, in any case, do not forget to consult a doctor, because self-medication can do more harm than good.
Preparing flowers
It is noteworthy that hawthorn flowers, whose medicinal properties are of particular value, can simply not be harvested in time, because the flowering time often does not exceed 3-4 days, especially if hot weather persists during this period. Moreover, flowers must be harvested at the beginning of flowering, when they have not yet blossomed. Firstturn, this is due to the fact that as soon as they bloom, many flower beetles will settle in them, capable of completely destroying the hawthorn flower that you managed to collect and dry in a short period. Since hawthorn bushes are often quite voluminous, it would be useful to speed up the collection process by cutting off not only individual flowers, but also entire inflorescences. When cutting, try to keep the length of the legs as short as possible.
It is strongly not recommended to collect them in the early morning, when the dew has not yet dried up, and immediately after the rain. The fact is that such a hawthorn flower loses most of its useful properties. In addition, with further drying, the flowers will acquire a dark shade. At the same time, drying itself should take place no later than 2 hours after collection in a warm, well-ventilated room, where direct sunlight will not fall on the flowers. To speed up the process, it would be best to try to distribute them as thinly as possible.
Hawthorn flowers can retain their beneficial properties both in an alcoholic tincture, which must be prepared from freshly cut flowers, and in the form of various tinctures based on ready-made dry preparations.
When cutting, it is necessary to try to keep the length of the legs of the inflorescences as short as possible.
Harvesting fruits
Fruits should be harvested only after they have reached full ripeness. This period falls at the end of September, until the firstfrosts. You can either cut off individual shields with fruits, or separate each one in turn.
If a dryer is used to speed up the drying process, the maximum temperature in it should not exceed 60 °C. The natural drying process lasts at least a week, after which the finished raw material will definitely need to be sorted out in order to remove all impurities associated with fruits: stalks and low-quality berries.
Use in official medicine
If we consider hawthorn flowers, the application will not cause difficulties even for those who first encountered this plant. They are successfully used in violation of the stable work of the heart or high blood pressure.
Any drug based on hawthorn has detailed instructions describing all the details of use, but in any case, you must first consult with your doctor so as not to harm the body by self-medication.
What is hawthorn used for?
If necessary, with the help of hawthorn, you can have a selective effect on the coronary vessels of the brain, a calming effect on the nervous system, speed up the supply of oxygen to such important parts of the body as the heart and brain, and also ensure constant maintenance of the body in good shape.
In the field of traditional medicine, the most widely used tincture of hawthorn flowers and liquid extract from the fruit. They are able to quickly help the body in the event of dizziness,shortness of breath, insomnia, and properly stimulate the body's metabolism.
Hawthorn Infusion
An infusion made from hawthorn is one of the easiest medicines to make, with its only drawback being its short shelf life. Of course, if the infusion is made with alcohol, the shelf life is significantly increased, and it is important that it can not only be purchased at a pharmacy, but also made independently. This is perhaps the simplest remedy that can be prepared from medicinal plants.
But even in the refrigerator it is stored for no more than a day. Therefore, every day you need to brew a new infusion. So it is recommended to make alcohol tinctures, which, of course, last longer.
Hawthorn flowers: contraindications
Hawthorn is probably one of the few plants that do not cause side effects even with prolonged use, but not all people can use it and not in any quantities. Despite the fact that some drugs containing hawthorn are prescribed for people with serious illnesses, there are a number of contraindications, for example, if the dosage of the tincture is significantly exceeded (more than 100 drops of hawthorn), the pulse slows down significantly.
Hawthorn flowers retain their healing properties for a fairly long period of time (about two years). Therefore, you should not worry that you will use a low-quality product, for example, by buying them at a pharmacy, but you should not drink tea withhawthorn if you have been diagnosed with severe heart or kidney disease.
Hawthorn flowers, the use of which was considered by us, should be used with extreme caution by pregnant and lactating women, because the calming effect on the nervous system is transmitted to the baby and can cause serious disorders in the future.
