Hawthorn

"Wild Thing,
you make my heart sing.
You make everything
Groovy!"
–Chip Taylor 1965

Every haw has it's thorn. A truism we might as well get used to. And the black pomes of Hawthorn trees are no exception. We can all be grateful that these thorns at least have edible fruits accompanying them and are not merely thorns for the sometimes sadistic nature of nature.

Black Hawthorn is normal English for Crataegus douglasii, which is Latin for Greek kratos meaning "strength" (Plants of the Southern Interior British Columbia and the Inland Northwest published by Lone Pine) and "douglasii" meaning Northwest Explorer-Naturalist David Douglas probably first described it in English/Latin, in writing, to the name-it-claim-it English-European culture. His name claims many plants.

The Black Hawthorns, prevalent along the paths, streams, roads, and remaining wild hills of the Inland Northwest, are native, deciduous shrubs which grow to tree-like proportions. Luckily our black hawthorn is more haw than thorn with a sparse arsenal of easily avoided barbs. Among these grow an abundance of thick, ovalesque leaves with saw-toothy edges. These are dark and shiny on top with a lighter, matte green on bottom. Dangling among these leaves are clusters of miniature black apples, called pomes, haws, and/or berries. Unfortunately the seeds are not as miniaturized, thus rendering an already mealy-fleshed bland-yet-sweet berry guarded by stout thorns even less desirable.

But desire it you should, for this is a pome for your heart, the Pablo Neruda of vascular health. Just as the thorns of the rose have not deterred lovers, neither should these thorns deter the heart-sick. Studies and lore find this pome reducing hypertension and mildly stimulating the heart (cites at wikipedia.com, and Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies by Linda Kershaw). As with many matters of the heart, perseverance pays off with Hawthorn; the longer it is used, the better the results.

Not so romantically, fresh haws and inner bark tea is said to dam diarrhea (Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies). Surfing the internet, I noticed academic papers referring to Native Americans using the plant to stop diarrhea in children (the conclusions of these papers were held hostage for sums beyond my budget). However other sources complain that haws cause constipation. If you have diarrhea, a little constipation sounds very nice. So, if you get diarrhea from Hawthorns, this is Not also your cure, just stop while you're ahead, go home and eat some cookie dough. If I got diarrhea from some other source, say wild and free Giardia'n'friends, I would give a "moderate" amount of haws a solid chance to show off their talents.

Hawthorn tea is also purportedly used to treat kidneys, nervousness and insomnia. Assays of the local, prolific Black Hawthorns show these dark haws are highest in flavonoids, and a tea is recommended for repairing connective tissues. (Edible and Medicinal Plants…).

Methods of ingestion and preparation vary. Poetically, you might sup or ruminate upon raw pomes. Or you could dry and store them for later teas and infusions. The tea could be made by crushing the hard haws and steeping them in boiled water for a little while. An infusion of the crushed berries could also be made by soaking them overnight in cold water, then boiling and straining them. (Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susun Weed). The Native Interior peoples turned them into fruit leather cakes. (Plants of Southwestern Interior…) Mashed and strained of seeds, these high pectin fruits are jammed and jellied by people with way too much time on their hands.

As usual, be sure you've got the right berry before you invite it into your heart. Other berry-bearing, shrubby trees, such as Buckthorn, can cause severe diarrhea and vomiting. Other warnings are for poking out your eye with thorns, of course. Some say they aren't for children, pregnants, or people with heart issues, however others recommend this gentle healer specifically for those sorts.

Robust health and a singing heart are the just rewards for perseverance in the face of thorns and slow cumulative effects. Hawthorn is for spiritual and physical ailments, the heart-sick, the dysenteric and/or the distressed who are determined to make everything groovy.

Recipe for Disaster

RECIPE FOR DISASTER: AKA Elderberry Syrup
(Adapted from an unnamed herbal cookbook)

Step 1: pick a grocery bag full of ripe (dusty blue) elderberry bunches.

Step 2: mess up kitchen, best done by cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner from scratch without cleaning up. Be sure there isn't any place to put anything down. Germs will be killed at Steps 7 and 9.

Step 3: remove berries from stems. For best results get help from a 5 and a 2 year old who will drop the tiny, dark-juice berries on the floor, which isn't clean anyway, so don't cry.

Step 4: measure out two quarts of berries. In your last clean pot, place berries and ¼ cup water. Boil "until soft": 10 minutes? 2 hours?

Step 5: when perfectly confused, dump berries through apple strainer. Make sure there is something underneath the strainer to catch the liquid: probably a bowl teetering on dirty plates. Mash berries. When you notice seeds coming through the little holes, switch to cheese clothe, being careful to not upset the precariously placed bowl of juice. Make sure berries are still hot so that as you squeeze the juice out of the cheese clothe, you burn your hands.

Step 6: Stain every piece of clothing with purple Elderberry juice.

Step 7: return juice to pot. Add 9 cloves. Send husband to store to get ¼ oz ginger: grate and add to mix. Boil with lid off for 1 hour, being sure to burn most of it to the bottom of the pan.

Step 8: realizing that you cannot possibly can your ½ cup syrup, pour into ice-cub tray and try to freeze. Later you will put a very cold elderberry gelatinous substance in a mug, cover with boiling hot water, taste and add 2 cups honey.

Step 9: spend the rest of your life cleaning the stains off your clothes and floor.

Elders

The Elderberries are coalescing for their annual meeting of the blue-haired ladies auxiliary. Blue Elderberry is their local handle, though their charter, when checked, says Sambucus caerulea. They have affiliates around the globe numbering in the 30's, some of them are badbadbad and some are regular Florence Nightingales.

These shrubs grow 6-24' tall and wide, along streams throughout the dry Palouse. The Blue Elderberry is a stooped old shrub with long saggy opposite sprouting leaves which are divided into lance-shaped, toothy leaflets. In spring, from their droopy branches bloom whitish flowers. Currently dangling, are coteries of small round bluish fruits with a waxy veil of powder blue. I refer only to the Blue Elderberries, not the red, not the black, not the yellow, not the Mexican, not the Chinese, though I'm sure these all have their own tales to tell. The blue berries of which I speak are the only edible part of this plant. The new growth is considered poisonous, so take care to extricate your berries from the stem. Some sources list the leaves as poisonous while others rave of their medicinal properties.

My experience with the blue elder entails eating them raw with my children. Huck abstains as they make him sick. The rest of us can gorge without consequence. They are apparently high in calcium, according to herbalist Susun Weed.

I dry them by picking the entire cluster and hanging them berries-down in a darkish, dry place. A paper bag with ventilation holes works well. Once dry, the berries come off easily; the paper bag catches volunteers. I sift out the tangles of stem and store the berries in glass jars in dark corners. These we use in teas and infusions throughout the winter when we have colds or the flu.

Elderberry wine (aging the aged?) is apparently a special treat of medicinal value. However wine-making in our house came to an abrupt stop after a series of explosions that turned corks into bullets and a closet into a sticky mess. This year I plan to make the famous elderberry cough syrup, which I hope will be less of a minefield than wine.

Elderberries can also be made into jams or jelly.

According to Plants for the Future (www.pfaf.org), Blue Elder roots, bark and leaves have many medicinal properties, being used in a variety of preparations for a variety of topical ailments and a few internal problems. The flowers are also edible and medicinal.

Most Native Americans ate Blue Elderberry in large quantities, both fresh and dried. The Okanagan let nature dry the fruit herself, according to Food Plants of the Interior First Peoples by Nancy J. Turner. In November, they piled bunches of nature-dried Blue Elderberries on a spread of needles at the base of a Ponderosa Pine and covered them with a thick layer of needles. Snow insulated the berries and the berries dyed the snow lavender. The Okanagan revisited the easily seen stash for snacks throughout the winter.

The wood is hollow and older branches can be used for flutes or good kindling. The name is likely from Anglo-Saxon aeld which is "to kindle," not because it is an old, wise plant, although it is. (Plants of the Southern Interior... by LonePine)

Throughout old Europe, Elders were known as "the medicine chest of the country people." According to Growing and Using the Healing Herbs by Gaea and Shandor Weiss, Elders of old warded off evil in Russia, Bohemia and Italy and witches in England. Elderberry is also used in Chinese and Japanese medicine, with varieties specific to those parts of the world.

In Wise Woman Herbal for the Pregnancy Year, Susun Weed relates a legend with global versions of a woman who lives in the Elder. She takes the shape of the tree to better heal her children. She requires respect and permission to use her healing powers. Abuse will result in poisoning.

These blue-haired little old ladies mean business. I, for one, have no intention of passing up the healing and wisdom my Elders Auxiliary intends to pass on to me.