Medicinal Monday...Black Haw

Black Haw is used extensively by Native Americans as a source of food as well as a source of medicine. This plant was introduced to European colonists by Native American communities and was used extensively to treat gynecological problems. Black Haw was added to the published pharmacopeia in 1882 and was listed there until 1926.

About Black Haw

The Latin name of this shrub is Viburnum prunifolium and it is native to the woodlands of southern North America including Connecticut. It is part of the honeysuckle family. In the spring, new copper-colored leaves emerge that eventually turn green. This deciduous shrub can grow up to 30 feet tall and has small white flowers that grow in clusters and bloom in April, May, and June. The flowers are followed by yellow berries that turn blue-black in the winter. The berries are called haws. The branches of this shrub are red at first then green and finally brown tinged with red. The dark green leaves turn reddish-purple in the fall. It grows in moist woods, thickets, and along stream banks.

Medicinal & Culinary Uses

Many Native American communities ate the fruit raw, put them in soups and stews, or cooked them into jam. Medicinally, many Native American communities made a decoction of the bark of black haw to treat menstrual cramps, the effects of menopause, and as an aid in childbirth. Its most common use is as a muscle relaxant, as a uterine tonic, and for pain because of its analgesic action. 

Black Haw contains salicin, a chemical relative to aspirin. Some Native American communities have specific uses for this shrub. The Cherokee for example took an infusion to prevent recurrent spasms and used the root bark to produce sweat. They also made a compound infusion and used it to treat smallpox, ague, and fever. The bark of the root was made into a tonic for general health and an infusion of the bark was used to treat sore tongues. The Delaware of Oklahoma combined the root of Balck Haw with the leaves of other plants and drank it as a tea to strengthen female organs. The Micmac drank an infusion as an aid to childbirth. 

Did You Know...

Other names for this plant are Cramp Bark, Nanny Bush, Southern Sweet Haw, Smooth Blackhaw, and Stag Bush. 

The fruit of Black Haw is eaten by songbirds, gamebirds, and mammals.

The flowers of this shrub are recognized by pollination ecologists as attracting a large number of bees.

Black Haw should be used with caution in people with a history of kidney stones because this shrub contains oxalic acid.

Black Haw was commonly used by owners of enslaved people to prevent abortion. In defiance, some enslaved women would take cotton seeds to cause a miscarriage.