Over the winter months, we explored the value and depth of the evergreen medicines that are a part of our life. As we are moving into spring, before we delve into the wonders of young spring greens, I feel it is appropriate to honor one more tree. This time a deciduous tree is our focus: Black Cottonwood, also known as Balsam Poplar. In many part of the country (or world) it is still possible to harvest the swelling buds of this tree which possess potent medicines.
Black Cottonwood
Populus Balsamfirus
The poplar species are used around the world for their medicinal properties. While I am speaking specifically about Black Cottonwood which is prolific through out the Western United States, other varieties can be used similarly.
Description: A deciduous tree found almost always near water. Waxy green leaves that are spade-shaped. White to gray smooth bark when young, turning into deeply furrowed bark in mature trees. Leaves will move quite a bit in a strong breeze similar to Aspen species.
Collection: The main part used for medicine are the resinous leaf buds. These aromatic medicinal treasures can be collected from late fall all the way until early spring. They are best in the early spring/later winter before they leaf out. It is often possible to collect buds after a windstorm from branches on the ground. The buds can be dried and then stored in a brown paper bag or jar, but be sure to dry them first.
Uses:
1) Medicinal Oil: The salves can be soaked in Olive Oil (or another oil though olive oil works best) for anywhere from 2 weeks to a year. After being strained, this oil is a powerful antiseptic for cuts, scrapes, burns, or minor wound. It also has strong pain-killing properties especially for trauma and bruising.
2)Salve-The above oil can be made into a salve by gently heating it on a stove (or using a double-boiler) and then add 1/3 beeswax to 2/3 oil. After the beeswax has been melted, pour into glass or metal containers. When it cools it will re-solidify, so go easy with the beeswax. This salves can be used the same as above, but will store easily, perhaps indefinitely and is more portable. Great for a first aid kit.
3)Tea/Decoction-Both the buds and the inner bark of the tree can be made into a very foul-tasting bitter decoction. Simply boil a handful or two in water for 20-30 minutes. This intense tea can then be taken internally for coughs and colds, especially those that linger in the chest for weeks with yellow or green phlegm. This tea will also lower fevers and treat body aches.
4)Other Uses- Buds can be used directly on wounds in the field as a messy first aid plant. Buds, leaves, and barks can be used in medicinal baths for aches and pains. Inner bark and cambium can actually be scraped and eaten in the spring time. And, being able to recognize cottonwoods from some distance can be a valuable sign of water in an arid landscape.
The window for collecting cottonwood buds is rapidly closing! Go get some now!
Showing posts with label herbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label herbs. Show all posts
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Monday, December 6, 2010
Herb of the Week: Evergreen Allies Part 1, Douglas Fir
This week for the herb of the week, I am going to start unveiling the deeper relationship that we as human beings can have with trees. Especially at this time of year (early winter heading towards solstice), as most of the herbaceous plants are gone for the year, the main source of green in our vision of the outdoors is probably a conifer of some sort. Conifers, which are often referred to as evergreens, are trees that have adapted to winter conditions in such a way that they reproduce through cones and generally speaking, keep their needles year round (technically conifers do lose their needles, just at a slow rate and not at the same time except for larches which do lose their needles at the same time).
Conifers have traditionally been revered at this time of year in a variety of ways. The most obvious one is the European tradition (which is now popularized over a lot of the world) of bringing in evergreen boughs, branches, and even trees in the form of the Christmas tree. But why do we do such a thing? Well, there are some pretty obvious symbolic reasons. These evergreen trees are potent symbols of surviving the harshness of winter. Keeping their needles and still appearing alive and fresh at this time of year is an indication of their power. However, there are also a number of practical reasons. Almost all conifers are rich in essential oils which are emitted from their needles, branches, and sap or pitch. These essential oils are very effective medicines especially against respiratory illness. There is the distinct possibility that the origin of bringing in evergreen decorations during the winter time was a form of preventative medicine.
In honor of this tradition, for the next few weeks our herbs of the week will actually be coniferous trees. We will start with the Douglas Fir, one of the classic trees used as a "Christmas" tree.
Douglas Fir, "Pseudo Fir"
Douglas Fir or Psedostuga menziesii, is a conifer widely distributed in the Western United States.
Appearance and Description:
Douglas Fir is characterized by extremely rough, thick bark in mature trees (in young trees the bark actually contains large numbers of resinous blisters filled with the potent pitch of the tree). It's needles are flat and friendly like most firs, but technically it is not a true fir only a pseudo-fir hence it's latin name of pseudotsuga. Douglas fir trees tend to have very few lower branches because they break off easily. Many consider the most distinctive feature of Douglas Fir it's cones. The cones are 3-5 inches long with very wide open "teeth". Inside these "teeth", are very recognizable structures that look like a little tail and possibly the small hindquarters of an animal. This has led to the popularization of a story about Douglas Fir trees saving the lives of a number of mice during a time of great fire.
Uses:
1)Needle and Branch Tea:
Collecting the still green branches and needles from Douglas Fir is quit easy. Often after a windstorm, there are numerous boughs on the ground. Taking two to three handfuls of needles and boiling them in water for 20-45 minutes produces a quite pleasant tea. This tea (or decoction) is very useful at fighting off early stages of cold, especially those characterized by thick nasal discharge and white or clear phlegm in the lungs. It can also be helpful for coughs, but more for the kind of cough that has not yet produced yellow or green mucous. The tea is very warming to the body and may produce a light sweat. The only precaution associated with the tea is that it can be very drying to the throat and lungs.
2)Needle and Branch Steam or Bath:
Douglas Fir is also used to make an herbal bath or steam. In this case you make the tea the same as above, but then that is either poured into bath water or a part of the body is held over the steaming kettle. This steam or bath is very good at driving out arthritis, join pain, and general aches especially those brought about by cold. This includes both chronic pain (especially arthritis made worse by cold) and body aches from flu that are made worse by cold.
3)Pitch, Sap, or Resin:
Many of the medicinal qualities of Douglas Fir seemed to be concentrated in the pitch from the tree. Usually found at wounds on the tree, the pitch can be collected and put directly on cuts or scrapes that have been thoroughly cleaned. The pitch can also be saved an added to salves, liniments, or even wound powders as a powerful antiseptic. Finally, burning of the collected pitch on hot coals produces an amazing aromatic smudge. This smoke has the effect of purification as well as many of the respiratory benefits mentioned above.
This holiday season as you bring greenery into your house, remember the original connection behind this now symbolic act. As we move towards the solstice, how can you work with the evergreens and their medicine to support your own journey to health and vibrancy?
Conifers have traditionally been revered at this time of year in a variety of ways. The most obvious one is the European tradition (which is now popularized over a lot of the world) of bringing in evergreen boughs, branches, and even trees in the form of the Christmas tree. But why do we do such a thing? Well, there are some pretty obvious symbolic reasons. These evergreen trees are potent symbols of surviving the harshness of winter. Keeping their needles and still appearing alive and fresh at this time of year is an indication of their power. However, there are also a number of practical reasons. Almost all conifers are rich in essential oils which are emitted from their needles, branches, and sap or pitch. These essential oils are very effective medicines especially against respiratory illness. There is the distinct possibility that the origin of bringing in evergreen decorations during the winter time was a form of preventative medicine.
In honor of this tradition, for the next few weeks our herbs of the week will actually be coniferous trees. We will start with the Douglas Fir, one of the classic trees used as a "Christmas" tree.
Douglas Fir, "Pseudo Fir"
Douglas Fir or Psedostuga menziesii, is a conifer widely distributed in the Western United States.
Appearance and Description:
Douglas Fir is characterized by extremely rough, thick bark in mature trees (in young trees the bark actually contains large numbers of resinous blisters filled with the potent pitch of the tree). It's needles are flat and friendly like most firs, but technically it is not a true fir only a pseudo-fir hence it's latin name of pseudotsuga. Douglas fir trees tend to have very few lower branches because they break off easily. Many consider the most distinctive feature of Douglas Fir it's cones. The cones are 3-5 inches long with very wide open "teeth". Inside these "teeth", are very recognizable structures that look like a little tail and possibly the small hindquarters of an animal. This has led to the popularization of a story about Douglas Fir trees saving the lives of a number of mice during a time of great fire.
Uses:
1)Needle and Branch Tea:
Collecting the still green branches and needles from Douglas Fir is quit easy. Often after a windstorm, there are numerous boughs on the ground. Taking two to three handfuls of needles and boiling them in water for 20-45 minutes produces a quite pleasant tea. This tea (or decoction) is very useful at fighting off early stages of cold, especially those characterized by thick nasal discharge and white or clear phlegm in the lungs. It can also be helpful for coughs, but more for the kind of cough that has not yet produced yellow or green mucous. The tea is very warming to the body and may produce a light sweat. The only precaution associated with the tea is that it can be very drying to the throat and lungs.
2)Needle and Branch Steam or Bath:
Douglas Fir is also used to make an herbal bath or steam. In this case you make the tea the same as above, but then that is either poured into bath water or a part of the body is held over the steaming kettle. This steam or bath is very good at driving out arthritis, join pain, and general aches especially those brought about by cold. This includes both chronic pain (especially arthritis made worse by cold) and body aches from flu that are made worse by cold.
3)Pitch, Sap, or Resin:
Many of the medicinal qualities of Douglas Fir seemed to be concentrated in the pitch from the tree. Usually found at wounds on the tree, the pitch can be collected and put directly on cuts or scrapes that have been thoroughly cleaned. The pitch can also be saved an added to salves, liniments, or even wound powders as a powerful antiseptic. Finally, burning of the collected pitch on hot coals produces an amazing aromatic smudge. This smoke has the effect of purification as well as many of the respiratory benefits mentioned above.
This holiday season as you bring greenery into your house, remember the original connection behind this now symbolic act. As we move towards the solstice, how can you work with the evergreens and their medicine to support your own journey to health and vibrancy?
Friday, November 26, 2010
What do we mean by Wild Medicine?
As we struggle to negotiate the ever more challenging and complicated aspects of modern life, occasionally we discover that the antidotes to the poisons that plague us may be found in the wild. Maybe, we are overwhelmed by industrial pollution and are being labeled as having "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity". Or, we are faced with the common plague of Depression/Melancholy/Malaise that the grind of a 50-hour work week produces and which alcohol and "Dancing with the Stars" cannot cure.
Strangely enough, no matter what our "situation" often the best cures are found in wild places around us. The fresh air provided by the density of a forest, the soothing rush of the river, and the feeling of soft loam beneath our bare feet are all medicines of the highest magnitude. Our wild place may be a cedar tree at the corner park or a desert wash in our backyard or the view of the mountains in the distance. Maybe it is simply the empty lot in which "weeds" are fighting back against the oppression of concrete and broken glass. Whatever our wild place may be, it can be a threshold, a sacred place in which begin our process of reawakening our wild, vital self. Soon, we may find ourselves keeping odd hours, ducking out at lunch time to watch the birds, and pausing to really feel the wind brushing against our skin.
This is the beginning. In our future plants become friends and allies. Animals become teacher and mentors. The sun and moon become the only true clock. We are on the edge of true freedom. This is the journey towards wild medicine.
Strangely enough, no matter what our "situation" often the best cures are found in wild places around us. The fresh air provided by the density of a forest, the soothing rush of the river, and the feeling of soft loam beneath our bare feet are all medicines of the highest magnitude. Our wild place may be a cedar tree at the corner park or a desert wash in our backyard or the view of the mountains in the distance. Maybe it is simply the empty lot in which "weeds" are fighting back against the oppression of concrete and broken glass. Whatever our wild place may be, it can be a threshold, a sacred place in which begin our process of reawakening our wild, vital self. Soon, we may find ourselves keeping odd hours, ducking out at lunch time to watch the birds, and pausing to really feel the wind brushing against our skin.
This is the beginning. In our future plants become friends and allies. Animals become teacher and mentors. The sun and moon become the only true clock. We are on the edge of true freedom. This is the journey towards wild medicine.
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