Viburnum opulus, Cramp bark

A vigorous shrub or small tree, with showy white flowers, having stem bark with antispasmodic properties useful in painful periods, and other cramps and colicky pains.

scientific name Viburnum opulus L.

family Adoxaceae (previously called Caprifoliaceae)

alternate names Water or swamp elder, snowball tree, guelder rose, European cranberry

parts used Bark

Description

Cramp bark is a deciduous shrub growing fast up to 3-5m tall and 2-3m wide with grey hairless angled twigs and scaly buds. The opposite leaves are palmately lobed. The flowers open in June-July in flat umbel-like clusters. Globular shiny red fruits ripen in September-October and are intensely bitter. The main stems have terminal flower buds and new growth made by the side branches gives a bushy form. Cramp bark has rich autumn colours as the leaves turn red or yellow in autumn.

Habitat

Cramp bark is a shrub found in damp hedgerows, woodlands, fens and scrubland throughout most of Europe and north and west Asia.

Related plants

V. opulus var. ‘Compactum’ is worth considering in smaller gardens as it has a more compact habit. V. ­opulus var. ‘Sterile’ or ‘Roseum’ has globular shaped heads of sterile flowers, much planted in gardens as an ornamental. This is the original Guelder rose first cultivated near Guelders in Holland. The wayfaring tree (V. lantana) has bark which is said to have similar antispasmodic properties and grows in drier conditions. The highbush or American cranberry (V. opulus var. ­americanum) is found in northern US and Canada. Black haw (V. ­prunifolium) is native to dry woods in eastern and southern North America and has similar herbal uses to cramp bark.1

Coppiced cramp bark leaf and stems

Cultivation and harvest

Cultivation

Cramp bark thrives in moist soils and will grow in both moderately acid and alkaline soils. The shrub will survive in shade although it is more productive of flowers and fruits in lighter conditions. It is hardy to USDA zone 3 (UK zone 3) and is not frost tender. Cramp bark regenerates quickly after cutting and is a good candidate for coppice production, and the plants can be closely spaced about 1-1.2m apart.

Pests and diseases

Cramp bark foliage is browsed by deer, attacked by aphids, flea beetle and caterpillars, although it will usually recover. The berries stay on the bush for some time as they are not palatable to birds.

Propagation

Gather the berries as they begin to turn red and place in a well-drained medium until late winter. Bruising the berries will help to ensure the skin and thin pulp rot away more quickly. Sow the cleaned seed in February or March outside in a cold frame. Seedlings can be transplanted the following spring and grown on for 1-2 years before planting in permanent sites. Seeds that have dried out since gathering may take longer to germinate, with 2-3 months’ warm stratification (20-30^oC/68-86^oF) followed by cold stratification for 1-2 months (5^oC/41^oF). Soft summer cuttings can be placed under mist in a well-drained medium. Alternatively firmer cuttings with a heel can be taken in late summer, and rooted in soil in a cold frame. Layering is possible.

Harvesting

The bark can be harvested any time of year, but it is usually taken in spring or early summer. Can be used fresh or dried for later use.

Therapeutic use

Traditional

Cramp bark may have longstanding use, but relatively few records show this. It was mentioned by Chaucer, and John Gerard described rose elder or ‘Gelders rose’ in his herbal of 1597,² though he was unable to say what it was used for. Records show the use of Viburnum species in North America by Native Americans and colonists to alleviate a range of female conditions from menstrual pain to threatened miscarriage.³

Medicinal actions and uses

Cramp bark is antispasmodic, astringent, mildly seda­tive, astringent, hypotensive and a peripheral vaso­dilator. Any condition of spasm is likely to be helped by this bark, especially where pain arises from tension: cramps, menstrual pain, headache, muscle spasm, backache, high blood pressure, restless legs, rheumatic pain, Raynaud’s syndrome and poor circulation in hands and feet. Further indications for internal use are anxiety, heavy menstrual bleeding, high blood pressure, irregular periods, insomnia and threatened miscarriage.

Clinical applications and research

Despite established use there has been limited clinical research, though a Turkish study found that patients with urinary stones given cramp bark required fewer painkillers and less additional treatment. An in vitro study found that ‘viopudial’ isolated from V. opulus had antispasmodic effects on smooth muscle.⁴ Water extracts of leaf and branch of both V. opulus and V. ­prunifolium have anti-oxidant properties.⁵ The iridoid glucosides contribute to the muscle relaxant properties.⁶ Other parts of this plant deserve attention as functional foods and one study argues for the fruits of V. opulus as having high anti-oxidant activity, due to the contents of flavonoids and vitamin C which were assayed at 4.89g/kg and 1.64g/kg, respectively.⁷

Sample preparations and dosage

Dried cramp bark can be taken as powder in capsules, 6-12g/day (see p.96). Cramp bark tincture dose: 3-5ml three times daily in water.

Cramp bark in flower

Constituents and commerce

Key constituents

Cramp bark contains viburnin (bitter glyco­side), valeric and isovalerianic acids, salicin, tannins, iridoid glycosides (penstemide, patrinoside and others), coumarins (sco­poletin, aesculetin), triterpenes (oleanolic and ursolic acids), hydroquinones (arbutin, methylarbutin, and traces of free hydroquinone) and resin.

Commerce

Cramp bark is sold as tablets or in tincture form. There is concern about threats from overharvesting and loss of habitat to the American species (V. opulus L. var. americanum) in its natural habitat,⁸ and there is a good rationale for using alternatives such as the European variety.

Safety

There are no reported harmful effects in pregnancy or breastfeeding, and no contraindications, warnings, adverse reactions or interactions are recorded. Given the medicinal indications, it would be appropriate to seek professional advice on use where medication is already taken to lower blood pressure. The berries, although attractive, are incredibly bitter and in large quantities can produce diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting.⁹

Other uses

Dye or ink can be made from the berries. We have tried making cramp bark fruit jelly at Holt Wood but found it inedible.

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1 Barker (2001) sections 376-378.

2 Bruton-Seal and Seal (2008) pp62-63.

3 Lans C, Taylor-Swanson L and Westfall R. (2018) Herbal fertility treatments used in North America from colonial times to 1900, and their potential for improving the success rate of assisted reproductive technology. Reprod Biomed Soc Online 5: 60-81.

4 Nicholson JA, Darby TD and Jarboe CH. (1972) Viopudial, a hypotensive and smooth muscle antispasmodic from Viburnum opulus. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 140: 457-461.

5 Altun ML, Citoğlu GS, Yilmaz BS, et al. (2008) Anti-oxidant properties of Viburnum opulus and Viburnum lantana growing in Turkey. Int J Food Sci Nutr 59: 175-180; Erdogan-Orhan I, Altun ML, Sever-Yilmaz B, et al. (2011) Anti-acetylcholinesterase and anti-oxidant assets of the major components (salicin, amentoflavone, and chlorogenic acid) and the extracts of Viburnum opulus and Viburnum lantana and their total phenol and flavonoid contents. J Med Food 14: 434-440.

6 Cometa MF, Parisi L, Palmery M, et al. (2009) In vitro relaxant and spasmolytic effects of constituents from Viburnum prunifolium and HPLC quantification of the bioactive isolated iridoids. J Ethnopharmacol 123: 201-207.

7 Rop O, Reznicek V, Valsikova M, et al. (2010) Anti-oxidant properties of European cranberry bush fruit (Viburnum opulus var. edule). Molecules 15: 4467-4477.

8 Kollmann J and Grubb PJ. (2002) Viburnum lantana L. and Viburnum opulus L. (V. lobatum Lam., Opulus vulgaris Borkh.) J Ecol 90: 1044-1070..

9 Mills and Bone (2005) p148.