山楂属(Crataegus L.)植物种类繁多,全世界约有1,000种,广泛分布于北半球,北美种类很多。各国民间以山楂入药的约有二、三十种。由于它含有大量的维生素C,营养丰富,具有较好的消食化滞、抗菌消炎及治疗心血管病的作用,各国的研究颇多(包括对山楂的分类、生态、分布、栽培、 Crataegus L. has a wide variety of plants. There are about 1,000 species in the world. They are widely distributed in the northern hemisphere and many in North America. There are about twenty to thirty kinds of folk medicine used in the country. Because it contains a lot of vitamin C, nutrient-rich, has a good digestion and stagnation, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory and treatment of cardiovascular disease, many countries have studied a lot (including the classification, ecology, distribution, cultivation of hawthorn,