Morphological characteristics of Hawthorn

Hawthorn, a genus of Hawthorn in Rosaceae, ranks first in the group of fruits for its anti-aging effect. Deciduous trees, up to 6 meters high.

It is distributed in Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and other places.

The nucleus is hard, the pulp is thin, and the taste is slightly sour. The fruit can be eaten raw or used as preserved fruit cake, which can be used as medicine after drying. It is a unique tree species for both medicine and fruit in China. It has the functions of reducing blood fat, blood pressure, strengthening heart and anti arrhythmia. At the same time, it is also a good medicine for strengthening spleen and appetizer, eliminating food stagnation, promoting blood circulation and resolving phlegm. It has a good effect on chest, diaphragm and spleen fullness, hernia, blood stasis, amenorrhea and other diseases. Vitexin, a flavonoid compound in hawthorn, is a drug with strong anticancer effect. Its extract has a certain effect on inhibiting the growth, proliferation, invasion and metastasis of cancer cells in vivo.

Plant of Hawthorn

Trees, dark brown or gray deciduous, with rough bark; Spines about 1-2 cm long, sometimes without spines; Branchlets cylindrical, current year branches purple brown, glabrous or nearly glabrous, sparsely lenticular, old branches grayish brown; Winter buds triangular ovate, apex obtuse, glabrous, purple.  

Leaf of Hawthorn

Leaves broadly ovate or triangular ovate, sparsely rhombic ovate, 5-10cm long and 4-7.5cm wide, apex short acuminate, base truncated to broadly cuneate, usually with 3-5 pinnate deep lobes on both sides, lobes ovate lanceolate or banded, apex short acuminate, edge sharp, sparse, irregular double serrated, dark green and shiny above, sparsely pubescent along the leaf veins or bearded in the vein axils below, Lateral veins 6-10 pairs, some reaching the apex of lobes and some reaching the division of lobes; Petiole 2-6 cm long, glabrous; Stipules herbaceous, sickle shaped, with serrated edges.

Flower of Hawthorn

Corymbose with many flowers, 4-6 cm in diameter, the total pedicel and pedicel are pilose, fall off after flowering, reduce, and the pedicel is 4-7 mm long; Bracts membranous, linear lanceolate, ca. 6-8 mm long, apex acuminate, margin glandular dentate, caducous; Flowers ca. 1.5 cm in diameter; Calyx tube campanulate, 4-5 mm long, densely gray white pilose outside; Sepals triangular ovate to lanceolate, apex acuminate, entire, about as long as calyx tube, inner and outer surfaces glabrous, or bearded at the top of inner surface; Petals obovate or suborbicular, 7-8 mm long and 5-6 mm wide, white; Stamens 20, shorter than petals, anthers pink; Style 3-5, base pilose, stigma capitate.

Fruit of Hawthorn

The fruit is nearly spherical or pear shaped, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, dark red, with light spots; Small nuclei 3-5, slightly rhomboid outside, smooth on both sides of the inner surface; Sepals fall off very late, leaving a round deep depression at the apex. The flowering period is from May to June and the fruiting period is from September to October.