10 Trees That Can Be Used For Medicinal Purposes
10 Trees That Can Be Used For Medicinal Purposes
As we are starting to get into weeks of quarantine many may not even know they have trees that may be able to help them right in their own back yard. Enjoy learning below about 10 trees that can help you for various ailments. Feel free to search the internet as well for products you can find that will be able to help to save you quite a bit of time.
Many trees that commonly grow in North America and parts of Europe possess medicinal benefits. In the fall and winter months most of the medicinal trees can offer roots, twigs and bark for the healing of a multitude of standard ailments. To ensure the longevity of the tree, never cut bark from the trunk of a living tree. It is also advisable to avoid ring barking or girdling the medicinal tree. The compete removal of an entire strip of bark from around the circumference of a trunk or branch can result in damage and ultimately the death, of wood tissues.
10 of the more popular medicinal trees:
- Alder – Astringent used as a wound wash and healing agent on deep wounds. Leaf and bark teas are used to treat tonsillitis, fever, as a douche, and for hemorrhoids.
- Apple – Tree bark is used to treat fevers and diarrhea. Stewed apples can be used as a laxative. Baked apples are great as a warm poultice for fevers and sore throat. Apple cider helps destroy intestinal flora and decrease bacteria flowing to the bowels.
- Ash – Twig tips and leaves turned into a tea help reduce rheumatism, jaundice and gout.
- Beech – Bark tea from this tree will help treat lung problems and was once used in tuberculosis treatments. It is also used to help cleanse the blood. Beech tea is not recommended for pregnant women. Leaf tea is used in poultices to treat frostbite and burns.
- Birch – Leaf tea helps heal sores in the mouth and helps heal bladder and kidney problems, and gout. Use bark in a bath to aid psoriasis, skin rashes and eczema. Birch sap contains betulinic acid, which is used to help reduce tumors and fight cancer.
- Cedar – Bark tea is used to treat fevers, rheumatism, the flu and chest colds.
- Elder – Bark tea is used to treat headaches, for congestion, and to lower fever by inducing perspiration.
- Elm – Bark salve and poultices are used to treat gunshot wounds, chilblain, and on the abdomen to draw out fever. Bark tea is very high in calcium and helps increase the healing of injured bones, heal sore throats, soothe urinary and bowel issues, and to thwart diarrhea.
- Hawthorne – Leaf tea is brewed as a “cardiac tonic” but extended use is known to cause a drop in blood pressure. It is recommended to use it for just two weeks and then take a week off before starting the treatment again.
- Maple – A leaf wound wash or poultice is used to relieve sore eyes and soreness of the breasts for nursing mothers and pregnant women. Bark tea is used to treat kidney infections, the common cold and bronchitis.
Bark as Medicine
The medicinal benefits from the bark are found in the greenish yellow or green or cambium layer just beneath the outer portion of the bark. Bark can be dried and saved for the future or put to immediate use.
To dry the bark properly without damaging or over-drying the cambium layer, place the bark in a shaded area and do not overlap the pieces. To prepare the bark for use, simmer about two teaspoons of the matter with one cup of water for about 20 minutes in a non-aluminum pot – with the lid on. Strain the water off, allow to cool, then pour in a cup and drink.
One dose is approximately one-quarter of a cup. The bark medicine is presumed safe to drink up to four times a day for adults around 150 pounds; consume with a meal. Children and 75 pounds and smaller adults should reduce the bark tea ingested by half. Younger children who weigh less than 40 pounds should decrease the dosage by half yet again. The bark tea can be stored in a firmly sealed mason or other glass jar for up to a week.
