Black haw is known by many common names, including Guelder Rose, Red
Elder, American Sloe, Stagbush and Sweet Viburnum. Note, however, that
other species of Viburnum may also be erroneously referred to as black
haw.
For centuries, the dried bark of this shrub has been used by Native
Americans of the central and eastern U.S. and Canada, including the
Iroquois, Ojibwa, Meskwaki and Catawba. The herb was also popular with
the 19th century American Eclectic Physicians. One notable graduate of
the Eclectic Medical College of New York, W. R. Hayden, combined black
haw with cramp bark to produce Hayden’s Viburnum Compound, which was
marketed as a women’s uterine tonic from 1860 until the mid-1930s.
