Hawthorn(Crataegus oxyacantha): Hawthorn has been used in folk medicine in Europe and China for centuries. Europeans have employed both the edible fruit as well as the leaves and flowers, primarily for their beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system. Hawthorn is one of the primary heart tonics in traditional medicine. Fruit and leaf extracts are known for their cardiotonic, sedative, and hypotensive activities. In Germany, hawthorn extracts are used clinically for a number of heart-related conditions, often in conjunction with digoxin, the primary conventional pharmaceutical drug. Hawthorn has been extensively tested on animals and humans and is known to cause the following actions: decreases blood pressure with exertion; increases contractility (ability to contract or shorten) of the heart muscle; increases blood flow to the coronary muscle; decreases heart rate; and decreases oxygen use of myocardium (the middle layer of the walls of the heart).⁶³ In Germany, hawthorn extracts are approved by the German Ministry of Health for declining heart performance, sensations of pressure or restrictions in the heart area, senile heart in cases where digitalis is not yet required, and mild forms of bradyarrhythmia (slow heart beat).