The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Chinese Parasol Tree and Buckthorn

Episode Date: May 23, 2024

Today, I tell you about the medicinal and edible uses of two fairly common ornamental trees..The Spring Foraging Cook Book is available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRP63R54Or you can buy the eBook as a .pdf directly from the author (me), for $9.99:https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-spring-foraging-cookbook.htmlYou can read about the Medicinal Trees book here https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/06/paypal-safer-easier-way-to-pay-online.html or buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1005082936PS. New in the woodcraft Shop: Judson Carroll Woodcraft | SubstackRead about my new books:Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTHandConfirmation, an Autobiography of Faithhttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNKVisit my Substack and sign up for my free newsletter: https://judsoncarroll.substack.com/Read about my new other books:Medicinal Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSZSJPSThe Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6andGrowing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Elsehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/04/growing-your-survival-herb-garden-for.htmlhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4LYV9RThe Encyclopedia of Medicinal Bitter Herbs: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-encyclopedia-of-bitter-medicina.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5MYJ35RandChristian Medicine, History and Practice: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/01/christian-herbal-medicine-history-and.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7RNCTBHerbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/10/herbal-medicine-for-preppers.htmlAlso available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMWXL25Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/southern-appalachian-herbsBlog: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/Free Video Lessons: https://rumble.com/c/c-618325

Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. Today we're going to do two trees. The first one's a very short entry, continuing our series of the medicinal uses of trees, of course. And this all comes from my book, The Medicinal Trees of the American South. Full title, I guess, is Look Up, The Medicinal Trees of the American Southeast Mid-Atlantic Region. Yes, it's a very long title. I am trying to do shorter titles. But we will start with Fermiana simplex. Now, this is called the Chinese parasol tree. And the reason I included it is it is widely planted as an ornamental. You may have one of these in your yard already. You probably have one in your neighborhood.

planted as an ornamental. You may have one of these in your yard already. You probably have one in your neighborhood. It's traditionally been used, of course, mostly in Chinese medicine, but as an astringent and a salve. Now, astringent means it tightens tissue. It can reduce inflammation. And a salve means it's soothing. It's good for wounds and sores and rashes and potentially, you know that makes it those two properties together pretty effective the seed is expectorant and refrigerant and fridge means it cools the body decoction of the roots is used in to reduce swelling a lotion of the leaves was is used in the treatment of carbuncles hemorrhohoids, and sores.

So basically that would be the salve they were talking about. And yeah, it's good to know. So now we'll move on to a native tree. And well, actually, no, I'm sorry. This is actually naturalized. It was introduced in early America as an ornamental, and it's really pretty widespread now. It's alder buckthorn. It's either known as frangula or frangulia alnus or romnus frangula. It goes by two Latin names, apparently. There's also Romnus divirica, also called Durian, no, Dihurian buckthorn.

So, buckthorns are what they're commonly called. The Romnus comes from the Latin. In fact, D.S. Corrides wrote of it as Romnos, R-A-M-N-O-S. But in this country, they're mostly known as buckthorn. And it's more of a shrub. It's not a very large tree. He said it could get up to, well, five feet tall, maybe seven, eight. Thorny, it's very thorny. And sea buckthorn is often grown for fruit. So that one, if you're into permaculture, you may know that one. And he describes the plant.

He describes the fruit. He says the leaves were what was mostly used in ancient Greek medicine. And they were rubbed on for erysipelas or other inflammatory skin conditions and herpes and other viral skin infections and he said that in ancient greece it was believed that the branches laid in gates or windows would drive away the enchantments of witches so he even said if anyone picks up romnus when the moon is decreasing and holds it. It is against, it is effective against poison and mischief and is good for beasts to carry around on them. And it was in his time,

put in ships, uh, for good luck and was good against headaches and devils or demons. So, hey, I don't know, but in ancient Greek, uh, they thought it had some kind of magical properties, you know. Probably doesn't, but, you know. Well, it was used in several cultures. I would say the English by the 1500s were less concerned about mischief from devils and such in relation to buckthorn. They had many other beliefs and superstitions that were related to other plants, so you don't get very far from it, even in Protestant England. So Gerard writing in the 1500s said of buckthorn, the same, and he's referring to the berries as best I can tell,

do purge and void by the stool thick phlegm and also choleric humors. Now, that just basically means congestion and such. This would be of the stomach and intestines. They are given being beaten into a powder. And he said for strong bodies, strong people could eat 15, 20 or more. He said it is better to break them and boil them in broth without salt and to give as a drink. They so purge with lesser trouble and fewer griping.

So basically he said, in his broth he said, it needed to be fat flesh. So if you've got a fatty piece of beef or pork, boil that up with some buckthorn berries. And he would say it would work as a laxative with less stomach cramping, intestinal cramping, so to speak. And apparently the berries were also used in his time as a coloring for paints and dyes. So that's interesting. Ms. Greve gets more into the medicinal value of buckthorn. Of the common buckthorn, she said it was laxative and cathartic.

I mean, it's going to clean you out. She said buckthorn was well known to the Anglo-Saxons, written about in many of the ancient Anglo-Saxon herbal books and the Welsh herbal books. One of the oldest herbals, probably the oldest, I guess, in the British Isles or that area does come from Wales. And I can't pronounce it because I cannot pronounce Welsh, but it's something like the Physicians of Midfie. And if you're interested in a lot of the lore and a lot of the, you know,-christian superstitions and ceremonies

that you'll find them in there um a lot of stuff we would not use now um you know like some of their herbal remedies they would mix with urine and sheep dung and then you take that internally i'm not doing that but hey you know i guess if you're desperate to be healed and that's all you had. But yeah, definitely a different system of medicine than we find in ancient Greece. Ancient Greece was quite, you know, I'll say a bit more sophisticated quite a bit earlier, like a thousand years before, if not longer than that, before the Welsh book came out. She said the medicinal, let's see, she said the Welsh book came out. She said the medicinal let's see she said the Welsh physicians of the 13th century prescribed a juice from the fruit of buckthorn

boiled with honey as an apparent drink and all apparent means is it was just a gentle laxative basically. She said the medicinal use of the berries was familiar to all the writers of botany and materia medica of the 16th century. Dodwins, I guess, in his herbal wrote, They be not meet to be administered but to the young and lusty people of the country, which do set more store of their money than their lives. money than their lives. In other words, he did not think buckthorn berries were a fit for city people or cultured people, but for young, lusty people of the country who were cheap. They were a good food. I don't know. The English and their classes and caste systems, whatever. Until the late 19th century, syrup of buckthorn ranked, however,

among favorite rustic remedies as a purgative for children, prepared by boiling the juice with, she says, pimento and ginger. I don't know. I mean, pimento. Well, let's see. What were were we saying the 19th century so in england pimento actually could have been two different things it could have been the uh the pepper from which we get paprika uh the pimentos that go in olives just a mild chili pepper or it could have actually been the pimento bush, which is a tropical spice.

I don't know. So she also mentions ginger. So I'm actually thinking probably more of the spice. Anyway, and adding sugar to it. But its action was so severe that as time went on, the medicine was discarded. So it would really purge, really clean you out big time for children. And so, you know, of course, castor oil is a lot more gentle. And she actually says by 1867, it was no longer used and they had switched.

It was in favor now of castor oil as an occasional purgative. She said even the flesh of birds that have eaten the berries is said to be purgative. She mentions that one of the superstitions associated with buckthorn is that the crown of thorns of Jesus was made of buckthorn. Other legends say it was hawthorn. The alder buckthorn specifically, she said, was laxative and cathartic so it would help the appetite as well as help with constipation or anything you needed that for was given in cases of chronic constipation in the form of fluid extract in small doses three to four times daily a decoction being made of one ounce of the bark and one quart of water boiled down to a pint taken in tablespoonful doses let's get to America in the mid-1800s the buckthorn tribe

they put together also with the three I guess buckthorns we've been discussing New Jersey tea which is Cianothus which I have in a different category. But they said the plant possesses a considerable degree of astringency and has been used in gonorrheal discharge. It is applied by Cherokee doctors as wash in cancer and may be used wherever an astringent-like quality is useful. Stern's American Herbal referred to its antisyphilitic powers. And there's something written in French, and I'm sorry I don't read French. They say it is not now supposed to be endowed with any decided virtue in this respect, however.

So, not now by the 1800s believed to be that good for syphilis. 1800s believed to be that good for syphilis. Hubbard prescribed it with advantage in infections of infants, malignant dysentery, and other maladies dependent on ability. He usually combined it with a little borax, which is very interesting. I don't think I would want to take borax internally if I could avoid it. Let's see. In the Chesterfield District, an infusion of the leaves was used during the War of Independence as a substitute for tea. And I do think he's talking the New Jersey tea on that, by the way, which is cyanosis, because the buckthorn would probably just give you diarrhea. So I don't think we ought to think about that. And see, he's got, let's see, Carolina Buckthorn,

Frangola Caroliniana. Again, this is not quite what we're looking for, but then he also has Romnus Carolinianus and says they're probably the same plant. I don't know. I'm not sure on that. But this one he does say is purgative syrup prepared for the berries.

So, yeah, that's going to be the one we're talking about. And then it made the yellow dye that Gerard mentioned. This is an interesting use. So they said a quarter to a half an ounce of the inner bark boiled in beer would be a sharp purgative. It uses a certain purgative in constipation of the bowels of cattle, so it was used in veterinary medicine. By 1898, King's American Dispensary Story said it was good for nausea, colicky pain, violent metocatharsis are the effects produced by fresh frangula bark. In other words, it's going to clean you out violently and not be very pleasant.

When dried, however, it loses some of its acridity and then acts as a purgative only, so less violent when dried. Both the alveolus and renal discarders are colored dark yellow by it. Narcotic symptoms have been produced by eating the berries and seeds, the toxic effects having probably been produced by the prussic acid contained in the seeds. The decoction has been administered in dropsies and the same preparation as well in ointments in recently harvested bark has been used as a cure for the itch, so apparently very soothing and astringent to the skin. Its chief value, however, is laxative and cathartic, being quite popular for these effects with Germans. It resembles senna and rhubarb in action, but according to some, being harsher.

It is a remedy for chronic constipation, and they get into a lot of the pharmacist measurements. In a modern use, Plants for a Future says medicinal use of alder buckthorn. Alder buckthorn has been used medicinally as a gentle laxative since the Middle Ages. So I'm assuming this would be the dried bark. The bark contains three to seven percent anthraquinones. These act on the wall of the colon, stimulating a bowel movement approximately eight to twelve hours after ingestion. So it's not going to happen that quickly. Like the old X-Lax commercial, it works while you sleep, right?

And that reminds me, James Gregory, my favorite comedian, passed away. That was one of his bits. He'd say, the commercial says it works while you sleep. I don't want that. I want to be up and ready to go but he was hilarious and he will be greatly greatly missed anyway they said that specifically the alder buckthorn and I do believe we're using the dried bark here it is so gentle and effective a treatment when prescribing correct doses dos that it is completely safe for use by children and pregnant women.

I always get the caveat, I don't make any recommendations for pregnant women. The bark also contains anthrones and anthranols. These induce vomiting, but the severity of the effect is greatly reduced after the bark has been dried and stored for a long time. after the bark has been dried and stored for a long time. The bark is harvested in early summer from the young trunk and from moderately sized branches. It must then be dried and stored for at least 12 months before being used. The inner bark is cathartic, colagogue laxative. The fresh bark is violently purgative.

So there we have it. The fresh bark is violently purgative. It is also tonic. This is the dried bark again. Tonic and vermin fused helps get rid of intestinal parasites. It is taken internally as a laxative for chronic atonic constipation and also used in treating abdominal bloating, hepatitis, cirrhosis, jaundice, and liver and gallbladder complaints. It should be used with caution since excess doses or using the bark before it is cured can cause violent purging. Externally, the bark is used to treat gum diseases and scalp infestations or as a lotion for minor skin irritations. The fruit is occasionally used. It is a parent without being irritating. And finally, I guess we'll, well, no, I've got two more entries. We've got Peterson Field Guide just says,

American Indians use the bark tea to induce vomiting, so that would be the fresh bark. Also, it's a strong laxative, still used for constipation with muscular atony of the intestines. And the Physician's Desk Reference for Herbal Medicine, which is what a doctor uses, states, buckthorn is used internally for constipation and for bowel movement release in cases of anal fissure and hemorrhoids. It is also used after a rectoanal surgery in preparation for diagnostic intervention in the gastrointestinal tract to achieve a softer stool. Under unproven use, it says in folk news medicine it is used as a diuretic in blood purifying remedies contraindications it is contraindicated in intestinal instruction acute inflammatory intestinal diseases appendicitis and abdominal pain of unknown origin

used during pregnancy or while nursing only after consulting a physician the drug is not to be administered to children under 12 years of age so modern physicians disagree with the physicians of 1898 and when we're talking about pregnant women and kids I would tend to follow the physicians desk reference advice but anyway you look at it very valuable remedy good tree to have and as the buckthorns seem to be fairly interchangeable I would look for the more edible varieties like the sea buckthorn so you can have you can have your food and medicine you know on one plant but if you've already got some of these growing wild on your property or feral actually make good use of them and remember store that bark i would dry it for at least a year i mean at least a year i would store and dry it for and probably if i

could put up about a three years backlog supply i'd use the oldest as opposed to the freshest you know but you can have to kind of experiment around with it and see what works best for you. So that's it for today's show, y'all. Have a good one. The information in this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I'm not a doctor. The U.S. government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine, and there is no governing body regulating herbalists.

Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs. I'm not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true. I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb has helped me. I cannot nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends, you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are

identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever.