Herbs: Slippery Elm

Written by Loring A. Windblad


Common Name: Slippery Elm Bark

Latin Name: Ulmus fulva

Ulmus fulva is only one ofrepparttar 16 members ofrepparttar 145067 ULMUS or Elm Tree Family. Other forms ofrepparttar 145068 family are considered much less effective. These include:

Ulmus alata {Winged Elm} Ulmus campestris {Cork-Barked Elm} Ulmus Chinensis Ulmus glabra {Scotch or Wych Elm} Ulmus Montana {Scotch or Wych Elm} Ulmus suberosa Fremontia Californica {Californian Slippery Elm} is not related but has some similar medicinal properties.

Slippery elm is one ofrepparttar 145069 valuable remedies in herbal practice with fantastic strengthening and healing properties. It contains as much nutrition as is found in oatmeal. Taken at night it helps to induce sleep. Native to Canada andrepparttar 145070 US, it can be found growing inrepparttar 145071 Appalachian Mountains. The inner bark is collected from trees which are at least 10 years old andrepparttar 145072 bark is mainly powdered for therapeutic use.

Present-day use:

Homeopathic tinctures of slippery elm bark are used for skin problems and ulcerated conditions.

Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs recommends it use for gastric and duodenal ulcers.

Slippery Elm has been used for relief of coughs, asthma and bronchitis. Being rich in calcium, magnesium and vitamin A B C and K it helps to feed and soothe organs, tissues andrepparttar 145073 mucus membranes, especially inrepparttar 145074 lung.

Slippery elm infusion has been injected intorepparttar 145075 bowel in serious cases of diarrhea and dysentery where other treatments have failed.

With typhoid fever it cleanses, heals and strengthensrepparttar 145076 patient.

It not only soothes and heals all that it comes into contact with, but is highly nutritious. Slippery Elm is a wholesome food forrepparttar 145077 weak and convalescent, from infants torepparttar 145078 elderly. It has been used as a heart remedy, cystitis, irritation ofrepparttar 145079 urinary tract and has a great influence on diseases ofrepparttar 145080 female organs.

Mixed with Brewers Yeast and milk it has been used to stop gangrene.

Historical use:

Slippery Elm was traditionally used by Native Americans as a poultice for boils, ulcers and for wounds in general. Internally, it was commonly used for colds or fevers and to soothe an irritated digestive system - one of its main uses today.

The 'Slippery' part of Slippery Elm refers torepparttar 145081 texture ofrepparttar 145082 herb. This is because ofrepparttar 145083 large mucilage content of Slippery Elm, which is also responsible for its wonderful healing and soothing action. In most herbal literature this is termed a 'demulcent' or an “emollient” agent, which means it is a soothing substance.

Typical Dosage:

Powder/tea drink - Mix 1 tsp herb with a little water to a paste. Slowly add half a pint or so of boiling water, stirring or whisking allrepparttar 145084 time. Drink 2-3 cups daily.

Herbs: Burdock

Written by Loring A. Windblad


Common Name: Burdock

Botanical Name: Arctium lappa (LINN.)

Family: N. O. Compositae

Genus: Arctium, derived fromrepparttar Greek arktos

Other common names: Lappa, Fox's Clote, Thorny Burr, Beggar's Buttons, Cockle Buttons, Love Leaves, Philanthropium, Personata, Happy Major, Clot_Bur.

Parts Used: Root, herb and seeds (fruits).

Habitat: It grows freely throughout England (though rarely in Scotland) and throughout North America’s temperate zone on waste ground and about old buildings, by roadsides and in fairly damp places.

The Burdock,repparttar 145027 only British member of its genus, belongs torepparttar 145028 Thistle group ofrepparttar 145029 great order, Compositae.

Description: A stout handsome plant, with large, wavy leaves and round heads of purple flowers. It is enclosed in a globular involucre of long stiff scales with hooked tips,repparttar 145030 scales being also often interwoven with a white, cottony substance.

The whole plant is a dull, pale green,repparttar 145031 stem about 3 to 4 feet and branched, rising from a biennial root. The lower leaves are very large, on long, solid footstalks, furrowed above, frequently more than a foot long heart shaped and of a grey colour on their under surfaces fromrepparttar 145032 mass of fine down with which they are covered. The upper leaves are much smaller, more egg shaped in form and not so densely clothed beneath withrepparttar 145033 grey down.

The plant varies considerably in appearance, and by some botanists various subspecies, or even separate species, have been described,repparttar 145034 variations being according torepparttar 145035 size ofrepparttar 145036 flower heads and ofrepparttar 145037 whole plant,repparttar 145038 abundance ofrepparttar 145039 whitish cotton-like substance that is sometimes found onrepparttar 145040 involucres, orrepparttar 145041 absence of it,repparttar 145042 length ofrepparttar 145043 flower stalks, etc.

The flower heads are found expanded duringrepparttar 145044 latter part ofrepparttar 145045 summer and well intorepparttar 145046 autumn: allrepparttar 145047 florets are tubular,repparttar 145048 stamens dark purple andrepparttar 145049 styles whitish. The plant owes its dissemination greatly torepparttar 145050 little hooked prickles of its involucre, which adhere to everything with which they come in contact, and by attaching themselves to coats of animals are often carried to a great distance.

“They are Burs, I can tell you, they'll stick where they are thrown,” Shakespeare makes Pandarus say in Troilus and Cressida, and in King Lear we have another direct reference to this plant: “Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Burdocks, Hemlocks, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers.” Also in As You Like It: “ROSALIND. How full of briers is this working-day world! CELIA. They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery. If we walk not inrepparttar 145051 trodden paths, our very petticoats will catch them.”

The name ofrepparttar 145052 genus, Arctium, is derived fromrepparttar 145053 Greek arktos, a bear, in allusion torepparttar 145054 roughness ofrepparttar 145055 burs, lappa,repparttar 145056 specific name, being derived from a word meaning 'to seize.'

Another source derivesrepparttar 145057 word lappa fromrepparttar 145058 Celtic llap, a hand, on account of its prehensile properties.

The plant gets its name of 'Dock' from its large leaves;repparttar 145059 'Bur' is supposed to be a contraction ofrepparttar 145060 French bourre, fromrepparttar 145061 Latin burra, a lock of wool, such is often found entangled with it when sheep have passed byrepparttar 145062 growing plants.

An old English name forrepparttar 145063 Burdock was 'Herrif,' 'Aireve,' or 'Airup,' fromrepparttar 145064 Anglo Saxon hoeg, a hedge, and reafe, a robber - or fromrepparttar 145065 Anglo Saxon verb reafian, to seize. Culpepper gives as popular names in his time: Personata, Happy Major and Clot-Bur.

Though growing in its wild state hardly any animal exceptrepparttar 145066 ass will browse on this plant,repparttar 145067 stalks, cut beforerepparttar 145068 flower is open and stripped of their rind, form a delicate vegetable when boiled, similar in flavour to Asparagus, and also make a pleasant salad, eaten raw with oil and vinegar. Formerly they were sometimes candied with sugar, as Angelica is now. They are slightly laxative, but perfectly wholesome.

Cultivation: Asrepparttar 145069 Burdock grows freely in waste places and hedgerows, it can be collected inrepparttar 145070 wild state, and is seldom worth cultivating.

It will grow in almost any soil, butrepparttar 145071 roots are formed best in a light well drained soil. The seeds germinate readily and may be sown directly inrepparttar 145072 field, either in autumn or early spring, in drills 18 inches to 3 feet apart, sowing 1 inch deep in autumn, but less in spring. The young plants when well up are thinned out to 6 inches apart inrepparttar 145073 row.

Yields atrepparttar 145074 rate of 1,500 to 2,000 lb. of dry roots per acre have been obtained from plantations of Burdock.

Parts Used Medicinally: The dried root from plants ofrepparttar 145075 first year's growth formsrepparttar 145076 official drug, butrepparttar 145077 leaves and fruits (commonly, though erroneously, called seeds) are also used.

The roots are dug in July, and should be lifted with a beet-lifter or a deep-running plough. As a rule they are 12 inches or more in length and about 1 inch thick, sometimes, however, they extend 2 to 3 feet, making it necessary to dig by hand. They are fleshy, wrinkled, crowned with a tuft of whitish, soft, hairy leaf stalks, grey-brown externally, whitish internally, with a somewhat thick bark, about a quarter ofrepparttar 145078 diameter ofrepparttar 145079 root, and soft wood tissues, with a radiate structure.

Burdock root has a sweetish and mucilaginous taste.

Burdock leaves, which are less used thanrepparttar 145080 root, are collected in July. For drying, followrepparttar 145081 drying of Coltsfoot leaves. They have a somewhat bitter taste.

The seeds (or fruits) are collected when ripe. They are brownish-grey, wrinkled, about 1/4 inch long and 1/16 inch in diameter. They are shaken out ofrepparttar 145082 head and dried by spreading them out on paper inrepparttar 145083 sun.

Constituents: Inulin, mucilage, sugar, a bitter, crystalline glucoside-Lappin, a little resin, fixed and volatile oils, and some tannic acid.

The roots contain starch, andrepparttar 145084 ashes ofrepparttar 145085 plant, burnt when green, yield carbonate of potash abundantly, and also some nitre.

Medicinal Action and Uses: Alterative, diuretic and diaphoretic. One ofrepparttar 145086 best blood purifiers. In all skin diseases, it is a certain remedy and has effected a cure in many cases of eczema, either taken alone or combined with other remedies, such as Yellow Dock and Sarsaparilla.

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