Hawthorn

Crataegus monogyna · Crataegus laevigata · Crataegus oxyacantha · Whitethorn

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Heart failure symptoms^{1, 2} Exercise tolerance^{1, 3} Blood pressure⁴ Digestion⁴	Pregnancy⁴

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna, C. laevigata) is a flowering shrub of the rose family whose leaf, flower, and fruit extracts are used⁵. Flavonoids and oligomeric procyanidins are credited with mild positive inotropic and vasodilatory effects⁴. It is taken for cardiovascular support, chiefly as an adjunct in chronic heart failure, and for blood pressure, where data conflict⁴. Traditional uses include digestion, and anxiety is a promoted use with unclear evidence⁵.

In adults with chronic heart failure, mostly as an adjunct to conventional treatment, a Cochrane review and a separate meta-analysis found hawthorn extract improved exercise workload and symptoms^{1, 2}. A systematic review for Australian guidelines judged the trials too small or underpowered to appraise clinical outcomes⁶. A 2024 crossover trial in mild hypertension or hyperlipidaemia found no significant difference from placebo⁷. In vitro, a 2025 study found Crataegus orientalis leaf extracts inhibited human plasma angiotensin converting enzyme; no human trial has tested this. Products listing hawthorn number 1,879, mostly capsules and liquids; see Form comparison.

Health Canada labels ask for a practitioner's advice before use with cardiac glycosides such as digoxin or blood pressure medication⁸, yet a crossover trial in healthy volunteers found no change in digoxin pharmacokinetics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that supplements labeled tejocote root contained toxic yellow oleander⁵.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

56 sources, 51 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
InteractionsThe medicines and supplements it interacts with, the effect of each, and what labeling says to watch.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources