The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Linden, Tilia, Basswood or Lime Tree

Starting point is 00:00:01 Hey, y'all, welcome this week's show. Got a really interesting herb for you this week. It's actually a tree. And as you know, most herbalists don't really study the medicinal value of trees anymore, which is just weird. I mean, trees are plants just like any other plant. Native Americans use trees. German herbalists use trees.

Starting point is 00:00:22 Greek herbalists use trees. But for some reason, modern-day America and really throughout the herbal world, people just think of herbs as little green plants and nothing could be farther from the truth because usually tree medicine is very potent very strong and they're easy to identify it's a lot easier to identify what 10 or 20 trees have medicinal use than it is hundreds of little green things I mean and I don't think I've ever been anywhere I couldn't find an oak tree yeah I mean seriously just about anywhere. I can find an oak tree. Just about anywhere, I can find a pine. And you don't really have to worry so much about contamination and such with trees, because the roots are deeper. We're not

Starting point is 00:01:11 really worried about is that tree on the edge of a highway or a golf course or something. And, you know, pine will stop bleeding and disinfect a wound better than just about anything. Oak will do the same. Oaks more astringent. It's really good to powder the bar. bark and put it in a bleeding wound. It's fantastic, in fact. Both of them are. You can use a pine pitch, the dried sap essentially of the pine tree, but the oak use oak bark from the limbs. There's so many, and I've discussed so many of them. I mean, tulip poplar and dogwood have quinine type properties, good for fevers and viruses, and willows have fever reducing and pain reducing properties. So do poplars, real poplars, not tulip poplopper.

Starting point is 00:01:59 So two different species populace as opposed to, what was that one, Linda Flora or something? I can't remember right at the top of my head. Wintergreen, herb is hard to find. Birch twigs are not. And you can substitute birch twigs for winter green any day. But today we're going to talk about a really interesting plant that goes by many different names. I guess the most proper name is Tilia.

Starting point is 00:02:28 Yeah, that's the last. name, T-I-L-I-A. You may know it as Basswood in America, or if you're from Europe, you may know it as lime. Now, it's not lime, as in the fruit, the citrus. Another popular name for it is Linden. So you can call this from Tilia, Basswood, Lime, or Linden, where we're talking about the same tree. But interestingly, this tree has somewhat different properties, depending on where it grows. There's several varieties. Let me see, how many? 13. Yeah, third, There's some that only grow in Asia, like Japanese lime. You know, there's American basswood, Carolina Basswood.

Starting point is 00:03:06 It was very different plants. Here, we tend to think, well, in the Carolinas, basswood, all of these are great for carving, by the way. Basswood or lime or linden or tillia, whatever you want to call it. One of the very best woods to carve and work with. Very sought after for that. But here in the Appalachians, it would be known as the Beaux. tree, and that's because it comes out with the blossoms, the linden or lime blossoms, whatever you want to call them, and the bees just go crazy over it. You can find an entire swarm of bees,

Starting point is 00:03:41 minus the queen, I guess, just covering a linen tree. And the way you find them in the mountains, they do have a unique smell, so if you, you know, you're downwind, you can sniff the blossoms, but you listen, especially in the spring, early summer. You're listening for the humming of bees. and you just follow it right to it. And nine times out of ten, it's going to be a basswood. Occasionally, it will be a large holly tree because holly trees also produce a lot of flowers that the bees really love and flies as well.

Starting point is 00:04:14 You'll find a lot of flies on a holly tree. Also, a really good wood for carving. Nowhere near is soft. Nowhere near as easy. But I carve a lot of stuff out of holly. It's an ivory white wood. it's not the showiest wood, but it's strong and flexible. So for one instance, I've got a client who particularly likes spoons and actually like barbecue forks and such carved out of holly.

Starting point is 00:04:44 It's smooth. It's as strong, almost as metal. It's flexible. It's really good. It can be very hard to find one that grows straight and isn't real naughty. But when I do, he's like, okay, can you? And I came up with a special design for him just by chance. He said, I want a long spoon to stir my iced tea about six to seven inches long.

Starting point is 00:05:09 And I came up with this very narrow thin handle with a measured teaspoon at the end. And on the other end, the handle gets a little wider. And it's perfectly balanced right by the bowl of the spoon. You can just put it on the edge of your finger. And it just sits right there. He went crazy over. It's got this sort of like swooped. shaped to the handle. He loved it. And people were always asking him about it. And so he, I mean, he's

Starting point is 00:05:34 ordered, I don't even know how many more from me since that time. That was just like a one-off. And he's like, I love this. Can you make me three more? Can you make me five more? Can you make me forks to match? Can you make me a butter knife to match? I did that. Yeah. So anyway, both I'm very useful, very useful trees. Let's get into the medicinal use. Okay. So, as I said, this is not limes. This is not the fruit. This is the linden or whatever you want to call it. Basswood, America usually. But in Europe, it's usually called lime or linden, and St. Hildegard von Bingen, writing about 1080, 1,100, said a person who ills in his heart should take the interior branches of linen root and reduce it to a powder. He should eat this powder often with bread,

Starting point is 00:06:21 and his heart will be better. In summer, place fresh leaves of linen over your eyes when you go to sleep and cover your whole face with them. This will clarify your eyes and make them clean. It actually does have some astringency and maybe some certain, I don't know, phytonutrients, something, and antioxidants that can help with cataracts. So that's worth a try anyway. Let's see. She says, if you were Verghitsch to get, I love that word, frigategett.

Starting point is 00:06:53 That is old German, which can mean anything from bad arthritis to paralysis, stoved up, as we used to call it in the south. She says, you should take the earth which lies around the root of the linden and put it on the fire, pour water over it when it's hot, and bathe with it in a sauna. Do this for nine days and you'll be cured. I have no idea if, how or why that works, but, hey, it's worth a shot. If you've got, you know, severe muscle cramping, rheumatoid arthritis, I mean, go down

Starting point is 00:07:25 the list. things that would put you in that condition, why not go get some dirt from around the base of a linen tree and try using it in a sauna? Got nothing to lose? Who knows? I don't. There could be, I mean, certain trees have fungal relationships with the soil. There'll be certain, you know, fungi, mushrooms, you know, mycelium, whatever, it's gross, specifically in that relationship. I don't know, but it's worth a shot. Now, Father Nape, German in the late 1800s, mentioned lime tree blossoms. It was tillia, grandopholia, and parvopholia in his neck of the woods. He said, it is almost solely the elderly people of the old school who still gather the once so well-liked lime tree blossoms. They are quite right, and he'd only remain conservative with regard to their old custom. Lime blossom tea, together with elder blossom tea, are the best-noblasts.

Starting point is 00:08:21 T's for producing perspiration. Concerning perspiration, as it is usually carried on, I have my own particular opinion, which is not at all in its favor. On the other hand, I willingly use the blossoms for the vapors which produce and supply the place of perspiration. Wine blossom tea has excellent effects on such complaints as old cough, obstructions of the lungs of windpipe, trouble of the abdomen, which had their origins and obstructions of flim, in the the kidneys. Lime tree blossoms, instead of, oh, wait a minute, instead of lime tree blossoms, I use the St. John's wort, with or without the admixture of common yarrow for kidney issues if he doesn't have lime tree on hand. And his protege brother Aloysius writing about, gosh, I don't know,

Starting point is 00:09:11 30 years later said, the blossom of the lime tree is used medicinally for dizziness, migraines, indigestion, chills, nervous complaints. The tea is highly recommended for old people in particular, The curle infusion contains an eighth to a fourth cup per two cups boiling water. So use an eighth to a fourth cup of the blossoms dried for two cups boiling water. Hot lime blossom baths are highly recommended for convulsions in children. Charcoal powder from lime wood is best for internal use. Use as activated charcoal. A cup of lime blossom tea in the evening with a half to a spoonful of honey is very depurative.

Starting point is 00:09:50 Strengthens the heart is good for the nerve. and promotes sleep. And yes, we'll get a lot more into that in a little bit. In addition, Lyme Tree tea is recommended for nervous complaints in general, also for hysteria, hypochondria, migraines, epilepsy, indigestion, colic, coughs, chills, shivering, and to avoid strokes. It lowers blood pressure. So that's what he's talked about there. All right, looking to the English tradition, let me have a sip of water here. A 1500s, Gerard wrote, Linden Tree, well, he gives it all the names. it's, and this is why it has so many different names. Apparently in Greek it was five, we'll see, Philira, Philira.

Starting point is 00:10:32 Latin is Tilia, that's the word we use. But in Dutch was Linden or Lindenbaum. It's interesting. Italian was Tilia, Spanish Tila, French Telet or Toulou, and in England, Linden or Lime. So we'll actually go back to the French spelling a little bit later. you'll find that interesting. So the bark and leaves of the linen and lime tree of temperate heat and have a somewhat, and are somewhat drying and as stringent. The leaves of Tilia boiled in water with a piece of alum and a little honey, cure the sores and children's mouths.

Starting point is 00:11:07 Smith's water, he actually says, I'm not sure Smith's water is. Oh, you know what I bet that is? Well, and there is something to this. So you know how a blacksmith will quench hot metal in water? It was believed that that water had some medicinal quality to it. And what it is, it's iron. That was an iron-rich water. So Smith's water is more than likely water that has iron in it. So a little alum and honey took curesores in the children's mouths. It would also be purified, you know, by that heat.

Starting point is 00:11:39 And water in the 1500s, England was not very healthy at all. Most people drank beer because the water would make you sick. So the leaves boil until they be tender and pounded very small with hogs grease, and the powder of fenugreek and linseed take away hot smellings. No, not smelling, hot swellings, obviously hot swellings, and bring in posthumes to maturation. In other words, bring a boil to a head, being applied there to very hot. The flowers are committed by diverse.

Starting point is 00:12:10 Diverse means various people, lots of people, against pain of the head, proceeding of a cold cause against dizziness and apoplexy. That's spasms. Can even be seizures, actually. And the falling cyst sickness, which actually is epilepsy, by the way. And not only the flowers, but the distilled water thereof. Now, something serious epilepsy has been, can have many causes. And I'm not going to say it's a cure for epilepsy, but Gerard thought it helped in the 1500s. So think of it what you will. The leaves of the Linden saith, Theophrastus, are very sweet and be a fodder for most kind of cattle, and the fruit be eaten of none. Well, I guess the leaves of the linen tree are enjoyed by cows, but the fruit is not.

Starting point is 00:12:57 So there we have it. I'm not sure why that was worth mentioning. All right, so Ms. Grieve in the 1930s wrote, in England, the tree would grow 130 feet tall. Yeah, they grow pretty big. She describes the petals and the sepals of flowers and all that. and she says a linen tea is much used on the continent, especially in France, where stocks of dried lime flowers are kept in households for making Toulou. Okay. That's also known as Tissan.

Starting point is 00:13:23 You may have heard of Tissan. We'll get back to that in a bit. The honey from the flowers is regarded as the best flavor and most valuable in the world and is used exclusively in medicine and liquors. Very true to this day. Basswood honey is probably second only, well, I'll say third. I'm going to say two that are actually better than. best with honey. The first being sour wood honey, real sour wood honey, which is almost impossible to

Starting point is 00:13:46 find. Most of what you've seen sold as sourwood honey is honey cut with corn syrup to give it that pale color, not the real stuff. If you've ever had the real stuff, you could not confuse the two. And the other one is gum, sweet gum or tuplos, they call it down in Mississippi. Phenomenal honey. It is like dark as dark molasses. It burns your throat. It's just like, in my opinion, that's the best honey in the world. I mean, I love a clover honey, wildflower honey, honey from time and various other aromatic herbs, absolutely, but that that two-poiloh honey, that gum tree honey, oh my word, my great-grandfather made that, and it was just, there's a biscuit with butter and some of that honey on it. There's nothing in this world

Starting point is 00:14:36 that can compare to that. Nothing, and milk fresh from a cow with a cream floating on top, non-homogenized, non-pasteurized, that is, that's pure ambrosia right there. I mean, there is nothing in the world that could compete with that. A little bit of country ham and, oh, man, or some bacon. All right. So anyway, I'm so drooling right now. The wood is useful for small articles that do not require strength or durability. That's true.

Starting point is 00:15:05 It's great to carve with. It's not really strong enough to use for furniture or boards. but she mentions that a lot of the figures in St. Paul's Cathedral and Windsor Castle and Chatsworth were a car from limewood that's in England. Very light, yes, it is. Great for making charcoal. Yeah, we've talked about that. Inner bark, very useful, strong and elastic, useful for making cordage and netting. Really good for that. It's a great survival plant. The sap can be cooked down for syrup. You can do it just like maple syrup, and it's really nice, very sweet.

Starting point is 00:15:49 Foley eaten by cattle, she mentions. All right, so let's get into medicinal actions and uses. Lime flowers are only used in infusions or made into distilled water as a household remedies for hysteria, ingestion, nervous vomiting, palpitations. Prolonged bass prepared with the infused flowers is also good for hysteria. Now, as we mentioned before, hysteria originally was an inflammation around the lungs, more like what we might call pluracy, but it also would cause, you know, breathlessness, agitation, and feigning. So over time, especially when women wear corsets,

Starting point is 00:16:28 well-bone corsets that would restrict their breathing, they get a little worked up and excited, and they faint. And that became associated with what we now call PMS or premenstrual syndrome. So people don't like to use the word hysteria anymore, but there is actually a valid condition known as hysteria, and it does have multiple causes. So let's see. In the Pyrenees, the flowers, the blossoms are used to soothe the temporary excitement caused by the waters.

Starting point is 00:17:03 By the waters. I don't know. I said it was also useful. We get spasms. Some doctors use the charcoal for gastric and dyspeptic disturbances and to put on burns and source. Yeah, you know, you can use activated charcoal for a lot of things. The flowers used for making T-San, oh, now this is interesting. We'll get back to this in a minute, too.

Starting point is 00:17:24 If the flowers used for making T-San are too old, they may produce symptoms of narcotic intuxt. Try that. Try that again. I got choked. If the flowers, boy, you need a sip of water. I hate it when that happened. You get that a little tickle in your throat. Oh, boy.

Starting point is 00:17:50 All right. So if the flowers used for making T-San, that's the tea that was popular in France, are too old, they may produce symptoms of narcotic intoxication. Very important, actually. Very important to point that out. And we'll talk about it a little bit more in a little bit. But let's stick with medicinal uses right now. So Basswood in South Carolina was researched by, oh, we cannot remember the name of the author,

Starting point is 00:18:18 the one who wrote Resources of the Southern Fields and Forest. Was it Porcher? I think his last name was Porcher. Anyway, he said, I find them quite useful and as useful as the imported tillew from France for quieting anti-spasmodic teas, which I have repeatedly seen prescribed. in France, is particularly grateful and soothing to lying in women. That would be PMS again. Quieting, nervous excitement, and pleasant to the taste. I would particularly recommend a larger use of these flowers in the southern states that can be used wherever tea is required. I agree. I don't

Starting point is 00:18:58 think I've ever met anyone in the South that makes basswood blossom or wind and blossom tea. People used to all the time. And of course, when resources of Southernfields, and forests was written, there was a blockade. The North would not let tea into the south, and so they were looking for tea plants, and yeah, that would be a real good one, not stimulating, but relaxing. So 1898, King's medical dispensatory, King's American dispensatory, under Actions, medicinal uses, and dosages, says, European species is common domestic remedy in Europe for the relief of many nervous and cataral or congested disorders. The leaves, flowers, and buds are employed, and their properties may be regarded as stimulant,

Starting point is 00:19:47 linted, tonic, and nirvine. To me, I think it was more as relaxing, but they think stimulant and tonic and nirvine, so a combination of the two, really. The infusion is generally preferred and may be given to allay irritation and restlessness and to promote rest and sleep, so I don't think of that as a stimulant, self, I think the proper, I'll get into Latin terms. Anyway, promoting rest and sleep. We'll go with sedative.

Starting point is 00:20:13 The hot infusion is employed to check diarrhea and from various forms of cold and cattle conditions, whether either hot or cold, it may be used for restlessness, nervous headaches, painful and difficult digestion and mild hysteria. The effect upon the nervous system can also be obtained from a bath, prepared for its flowers, and a strong teacher may be prepared. from the flowers. And I think that would be very effective. So Yule Gibbons, in 1960s, decided to explore basswood. He did not have a lot of success. He said the use of dried flowers of linen or baswood for team making is widespread. The French enjoy a number of herbal tisans that are

Starting point is 00:20:58 made from linen blossoms. It's more of their favorites. Mediciantly is reported to be commentative and restorative being given as a home remedy for nervousness, hysteria, insomnia, and cramps. And that is true. All that's true. But the thing is, he didn't get a sedative effect from it, and it's because he used fresh blossoms. You may remember that one of the authors said that it had to be aged. All right. So Plants for Future said medicinal use of American basswood, a tea made from the inner bark is applied to burns. It soothes and softens the skin. It is taken internally in the treatment of lung complaints, dysentery heartburn, and weak stomach. The bark is diuretic and infusion has been taken to promote urination. The decoction of the bark

Starting point is 00:21:40 is mixed with cornmeal and has been used as a poultry to draw out boils. A tea made from the fresh or dried flowers is antispasmodic, diaphoretic and sedative. It is used to the treatment of hypertension, hardening the arteries, digestive complaints associated with anxiety, feverish colds, respiratory cattera, migraine, etc. Lyme flowers are said to develop narcotic properties as they age, and so they should only be harvested when freshly open. An infusion of the leaves has been used as an eyewash, a poultice of the leaves that's been to use to the treatment of burns and scalds, broken bones and swollen areas, a tear tincture made from the leaves, flowers, and buds has traditionally been used for nervous headaches.

Starting point is 00:22:20 Restlessness and painful digestion. Use with caution see notes about toxicity. A decoction of the roots and barks has been used in the treatment of internal hemorrhage. Decoction of the root has been used as. a vermouth for use to rid the body of worms. Carolina Basswood used the same way. White Basswood used the same way. Yeah, also used for heartburn during pregnancy. So that's a use they didn't say for anything else.

Starting point is 00:22:48 Also good for weak stomach and bowels. Rodale Irb book from the 60s, well, early 70s says, linen flowers and leaves are an old household remedy for nervousness, colds, headaches, and indigestion. hot infusion is used to check diarrhea, also uses a hot bath to promote sleep. Lindenflower wine uses stimulant for appetite and to aid digestion. It's the only mention I found it, linen flour wine. So that's interesting.

Starting point is 00:23:16 I need to explore that. Peterson Field Guide says American Indians use inner bark tea for lung ailments, heartburn, weak stomach, bark poultry, oil, leaves, flower, tea, leaf flower or bud tea. or tincture, traditionally used for nervous headaches, restlessness, painful digestion, frequent consumption of flour tea may cause heart damage. Now, that's the only warning I found on this. And I mean, it's such a common tea in Europe. I would kind of doubt that, but, you know, who knows? So, like I said, a lot of the information on this herbs a bit puzzling. It seems Michael Moore did a study this, not the fat filmmaker, the deceased herbalist, did a study on it.

Starting point is 00:24:07 And he found that it really depended on the variety and where it grows. He found that the European variety had more of a sedative effect, and so did the Mexican variety. In fact, the Mexican variety, he said, was almost as strong as like cannabis. I don't know. Now, it could be, was he using old flowers? He said it basically knocked him out on a flight home from Mexico. And he was a heavy drug user, very, very heavy drug user, cocaine and all kinds of stuff. So, I mean, if he says that the flower tea from Mexico is that strong, maybe it is. I don't have any idea. As I said, Yule Gibbons found like no effect whatsoever. Was it a matter of the flowers were aged? Perhaps there's a fermentation process. that goes on as the flowers, you know, kind of age and dry? I don't know. The herbal Susan weed said that linden blossoms have a stronger relaxing and anti-inflammatory effect on people of Anglo-Saxon heritage. Now, does that make a difference? I don't know. I can tell you my friend in Austria, who co-wrote the herbs and weeds of Father Johann Kunzel with me, she uses it as a

Starting point is 00:25:21 relaxing tea. She considers it merely a pleasant tea. Michael Moore, obviously of English heritage. Did that knock him down because he has a genetic predisposition to being somewhat intoxicated by Linden Blossoms? I have no idea. Was it the variety in the place? Was it the way they were aged and stored? Again, no idea. The tree is so beneficial for so many reasons, from practical uses to medicinal, which is also practical. I mean, for like, you know, making cordage or carving stuff to medicinal. Or it is for nectar for bees, definitely worth getting a couple of these growing in your yard. Any piece of property you have, you should have a basle with a wind and whatever on it.

Starting point is 00:26:09 And then I guess you're just going to have to experiment. I do have some Anglo-Saxon heritage. most things don't affect me very much, though. I don't know if that's a genetic thing or it's just my constitution. But, you know, even when my back was injured and I was taking, you know, strong pain medication, a dose for a normal person was like nothing to me. I mean, the dose would have to be tripled just to dole the pain at all. And, of course, that was dangerous, and that's why I couldn't take pain meds.

Starting point is 00:26:46 I have no idea. People are different. They react to things in full. very different ways. Again, I just have a strong constitution. For me, a couple of drinks says no effect whatsoever. Another person that may knock him out. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:27:04 It just seemed odd that it affected Michael Moore so strongly because he was such a heavy drug user. You would think if, I mean, we're talking cocaine and heroin and amphetamins like crazy. I mean, he loved, you know, hardcore, hard drugs. and had a lot of access to him, destroyed his kidneys, burned out, probably on methamphetamine. You know how that goes. I would just seem so strange to me that he was so affected by it, whereas Gilgivens who probably fairly similar heritage, similar build, didn't have any effect at all. And I don't know if it's because it was a different, you know, one was growing in America

Starting point is 00:27:45 and the other way of Mexico. was it a matter of the way the flowers were aged or was it just simply a matter of the genetics of the man? I have no idea. But definitely worth looking into and certainly a good tree to know. All right, y'all have a great week and I'll try not to be so hoarse next week. I wasn't until that little coughing fit and now I can't seem to shake it. Anyway, I'll talk to you next time. intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA.

Starting point is 00:28:25 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 in herbs help me.

Starting point is 00:28:46 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.

Starting point is 00:29:09 By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself to your own research, make your own choices and not to blame me for anything ever.

The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Linden, Tilia, Basswood or Lime Tree

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