Black Haw (Viburnum prunifolium)

September 27th, 2007

Family: Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle)
Other Names: American Sloe, Stagbush, Sweet Viburnum
Flowers: March - May
Parts Used: Root bark in autumn. Stem bark in spring and summer.
Habitat: Native as an understory shrub in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. Connecticut to Florida; Texas to eastern Kansas.
Cultivation: Black Haw grows in full sun to full shade. It prefers moist, well-
drained soils of average fertility, but is adaptable to poor soils, compacted soils, and soils of various pH. It is propagated by rooted stem cuttings, seeds, or transplanting of suckers.
Description: Black haw, also spelled blackhaw, Blackhaw Viburnum, or Stag Bush (Viburnum prunifolium), is a small tree native to southern North America. It has both value in the pleasure garden, providing good fall color and early winter provender for birds, and medicinal properties.

Black haw is a small deciduous tree or shrub with a short crooked trunk ans stout spreading branches. Like many species of Prunus, it has oval leaves with serrated edgesâ€” thus “prunifolium”â€” showy pale-colored flowers, and dark blue-black berries that are eaten by birds. The bark is reddish-brown in color. In the northern parts of its range, V. prunifolium is a shrub, becoming a small tree in the southern parts of its range. Wherever it lives, black haw prefers sunny woodland with well-drained soil and adequate water. The tree is deciduous; its leaves turn red in fall.

Bark: Reddish brown, scaly. Branchlets at first red, then green, finally dark brown tinged with red.
Wood: Brown tinged with red; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.8332; weight of cu. ft., 51.92 lbs.
Winter buds: Coated with rusty tomentum. Flower-buds ovate, half an inch long, much larger than the axillary buds. Scales grow with the growing shoot and sometimes develop into leaf-like bodies.
Leaves: Opposite, simple, oval, ovate or orbicular, two to three inches long, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate, acute. Feather-veined, midrib and primary veins prominent beneath. They come out of the bud involute, shining, green, tinged with red, sometimes smooth, or clothed with rusty tomentum; when full grown dark green and smooth above, pale, smooth or tomentose beneath. IN autumn the leaves vary from scarlet to a vinous red. Petioles short, grooved, red, often tomentose, sometimes winged.
Flowers: May. Perfect, cream-white, borne in flat-topped cymes three to four inches in diameter. The pedicels are bibracteolate; bracts are awl-shaped, short, reddish, caducous.
Calyx: Urn-shaped, five-toothed, persistent.
Corolla: White, five-lobed; lobes rounded, imbricate in bud.
Stamens: Five, exserted, inserted on the base of the corolla, alternate with the lobes; filaments slender; antehrs pale yellow, oblong, introrse, versatile, two-celled; cells opening longitudinally.
Pistil: Ovary inferior, one-celled; style thick, pale green; stigma flat; ovules one in each cell.
Fruit: Drupe, oval, half an inch long, dark blue, with glaucous bloom. Ripens in October, borne in few-fruited clusters, hangs until winter, becomes edible after being touched by the frost. Stone flat and even, broadly oval

A large shrub or small tree with a twisted trunk and arching branches. Branches and spur shoots are obviously opposite and right-angled, looks like a fish skeleton.
Leaf: Opposite, simple, pinnately veined, elliptical in shape, very finely serrate, 1 to 3 inches long with a
reddish petiole.
Flower color: White, appearing in panicles, 2 to 4 inches wide.
Twig: Coarse in appearance and rigid, with dark bark, buds are valvate, red-brown to purple, pubescent and pointed. Flower buds are larger and appear swollen.

Cultivation: Black Haw grows in full sun to full shade. It prefers moist, well-
drained soils of average fertility, but is adaptable to poor soils, compacted soils, and soils of various pH. It is propagated by rooted stem cuttings, seeds, or transplanting of suckers.
Constituents: Coumarins (including scopoletin), bitter glycoside (viburnin), triterpenoid saponins, salicosides, resin, plant acids (including valeric acid), tannin, arbutin, and trace of volatile oil.
Note: Scopoletin, a coumarin, has been identified as a uterine relaxant and salicin has the analgesic and other effects of salicylates.
Medicinal Properties:
Antidiarrheal, Antasthmatic, Astringent, Hypotensive, Nervine, Sedative, Spasmolytic, Uterine Tonic.
Uses: Relaxes muscle, especially that found in hollow organs as in the uterus and bowel

Medicinal uses:
Black Haw is a powerful relaxant of the uterus and is used for dysmenorrhea, false labor pains as well as threatened miscarriage. It is used in the treatment of uterine irritability and hyperasthesia; uterine colic; difficult menses; menstrual pain; intermittent, painful contractions of the pelvic tissues; and relieves spasms after childbirth. Its relaxant and sedative properties are useful in reducing blood pressure. Its anti-spasmodic properties make it a viable treatment for asthma and bronchitis. It helps clear the lungs and throat of mucus.

For centuries, black haw has been used for medical purposes, mainly for gynecological conditions. The bark is the part of the plant used in treatments.

The active components include scopoletin, aesculetin, salicin, 1-methyl-2,3 clibutyl hemimellitate, and viburnin. Tannin is another chemical component of black haw.

Native Americans used a decoction of black haw to treat gynecological conditions, including menstrual cramps, aiding recovery after childbirth, and in treating the effects of menopause. As a folk remedy, black haw has been used to treat menstrual pain, and morning sickness. Due to its antispasmodic properties, the plant may also be of use in treating cramps of the digestive tract or the bile ducts.

Black haw’s primary use was to prevent miscarriages. American slaveholders also used the plant to prevent abortions. Slaves were a valuable asset, and their owner also owned their offspring, so ensuring that female slaves gave birth was of paramount importance. In defiance, some slave women would attempt to use cotton seeds to cause a miscarriage. The slaveowners would therefore force pregnant slaves to drink an infusion of black haw to prevent that.

The primary use of black haw today is to prevent menstrual cramps. The salicin in black haw may also be of use in pain relief.

Preparation and Dosages:
Cold Infusion or Strong Decoction: 3 to 4 ounces up to 4 times a day.
Tincture: [1:5, 50% alcohol] 30 to 90 drops up to 4 times a day.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Safety issues
As black haw contains salicin, a chemical relative of aspirin, people who are allergic to that substance should not use black haw. In addition, due to the connection between aspirin and Reye’s syndrome, young people or people afflicted with a viral disease should not use black haw.

The chemicals in black haw do relax the uterus and therefore probably prevent miscarriage; however, the salicin may be teratogenic. Consequently, pregnant women should not use black haw. Furthermore, anyone using herbs for medical reasons should only use them under the supervision of a qualified medical professional.
Note: Do not eat the berries. They may produce nausea and other discomforting symptoms.

Black haw is not on the FDA’s “generally recognized as safe list”.

Resources:

http://www.indianspringherbs.com/Black_Haw.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viburnum_prunifolium