The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Persimmon, Chinese Fir and Swamp Titi

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. We will continue our series with medicinal trees. I'm actually going to be able to do three today, because the first two are very brief. It's not a lot of use for them, and one of them is a little hard to find. The other one, the third, is going to be persimmon, which American persimmon grows pretty widespread range. You can probably find it in most places, maybe not the deserts, but it's a pretty common tree, very important fruit to early America. And, you know, these days it's very underappreciated. It's actually quite delicious and it has some really good medicinal uses. But we'll start with Cunninghamia lancelota. Now that's known as Chinese fir.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Cunninghamia lancelotta. No, that's known as Chinese fir. It's naturalized in my region. It's not native. And all I know about this is Plants for the Future says that Chinese fir is antidote and carminative. A decoction of the wood is used in the treatment of varnish poisoning caused by a species of Ruus. I guess that's like poison sumac, maybe. Couldn't find any more information on that. Search for it.

Starting point is 00:01:16 But anyway, more commonly used for chronic ulcers and hernias. Essential oil from the plant has been used to treat bruises and pain, rheumatism, and wounds. So it's essentially used as a soak or diluted essential oil externally, good for inflammation and bruising. And the ash of the bark is used to treat burns, scalds, and wounds. And a decoction of the cone of the fir tree is used to treat coughs. of the cone of the fir tree is used to treat coughs. So mostly external use, apparently some internal use. And I'm thinking that, well, they say used in the treatment of varnish poisoning from a species of Rulis. That's going to be used as a wash as well. I don't think that's going to

Starting point is 00:01:58 be used internally. You know, it's a rash, basically. So the other one is Cyrilla racemiflora commonly known as SwapTiti that's T-I-T-I in case you have any question. It is an American plant only. There's only one member of this genus. In stark contrast to the Hawthorn we discussed last week, this is the only one, the only member of the genus Cyrilla, C-Y-R-I-L-L-A. And its range is limited to the Americas. As I said, it grows in coastal swamps,

Starting point is 00:02:45 extending about as far as the Piedmont or the center of any state on the coast it's an attractive plant has white flowers and shiny evergreen leaves and the medicinal use is very limited but it's important the bark is both absorbent and astringent so it's a if you can get some you know if you can some, it's one of the most useful plants to help stop bleeding. Because it will both astringe that tissue, shrink the capillaries to stop the bleeding, and absorb and help with clotting. Now, the main one we're going to get into is the common persimmon. Latin name for that is Diospiros virginiana. Yeah, as close as I'm going to get to it diaspyros but virginiana just means it was originally discovered in virginia and it would have been the very among the very first edible fruit trees that european settlers you know probably

Starting point is 00:03:39 jamestown colony found and they are quite delicious pers Persimmon, it's found in various forms. Sometimes the trees can be bigger or smaller. Of course, you have your Asian persimmons, which are much larger. Our native variety is a small fruit, oh, about the size of a, I don't know, a marble, you know. Very different from the Asian persimmons in the grocery store, by the way. Our persimmons are an excellent fruit. They're mild and they're absolutely sugary sweet, but only when ripe. Now, if you've ever eaten an unripe persimmon, you know it is like the most bitter thing on the face of the earth. It will pucker your mouth. Ripe persimmons are absolutely delicious eaten fresh out of hand, baked into a fruit bread or cake. One of my favorite ways to use them when you do that you want to take those perfectly

Starting point is 00:04:29 ripe I mean these persimmons are turned purple now they're not soft pink they can be a little pinky purple the purple or and mushier they are the riper and sweeter they are but they have these little seeds and specks little brown specks inside. And if you cook them into a preserve or anything, cook them in a bread, that will make them just as bitter as they were when they were unripe. So you have to press them through a sieve, a tea strainer, any kind of screen, to remove those specks and seeds.

Starting point is 00:05:06 And then you have just like the sweetest most delicious fruit there is really popular in early america they would uh they would make them into breads mostly and when the breads got stale and dried they'd break them up and boil them in water and make a persimmon beer out of them this is just a real staple. People prized these scrubby little trees and they kept people from starving. And I mean, throughout the Revolution and Civil War, they kept our ancestors alive. But now people don't really value them. I mean, they look at them as, you know, a tree to get rid of, which is ridiculous. It's a small tree about the size of a dogwood usually. Likes the edges of the woods and can usually be found around old fields and rose sides. It grows crooked and knobbly. I mean, really, modern ignorance is the only reason we don't value this tree as much as we used to.

Starting point is 00:05:57 Oh, and the persimmon, the fruit ripens later than any other fruit that I'm aware of. Traditionally, it's said that you shouldn't eat persimmons until after the first frost. The problem with that is that many will be lost to deer and raccoons and possums by that time because they don't mind them being a little bit bitter, but I still, I do rate to harvest them. But hey, those are, I mean, I scout those trees also for game. I mean, the deer that will stand on their hind legs and eat persimmons, the squirrels that get all over there, raccoons and possums are very, they're very best if they've been feeding on persimmons, as opposed to other times of year when they might be feeding on trash or something, right? They just kind of pull off easily from the stem they'll drop on

Starting point is 00:06:45 their own with any um in any little bit of breeze and i'm you know it's i love them honestly i really enjoy gathering go out on like a chilly october afternoon and um bring them in and i mean the smell of the dry hardwood leaves, it's nice, you know. And you can scout for game and such. And, like I said, definitely remove those seeds. Definitely remove the seeds and the specks. That's the only way I know to describe them if you're going to cook them. If you're just eating them fresh out of hand, just don't eat the seeds. But they combine really well with pumpkin.

Starting point is 00:07:29 Pumpkin and persimmon bread, fantastic. Sweet potatoes and pumpkins, raisins, dried cranberries. You know, really, our ancestors, at least where I live, used to live off possums and raccoons. ancestors at least where I live used to live off possums and raccoons and a big they'd actually you know catch possums and raise them in cages or a pit out back like chickens to make sure that they had been eating clean and have a good flavor and they would feed them persimmons apples maybe some pecans and such and really the I guess the most traditional way of cooking a raccoon or a possum, well, often is grilled, like basically barbecued, but roast in the oven with, you know, sweet potatoes and persimmons and, you know, apples and such that. And the fat, you know, kind of mixes in there and makes a really nice sauce. You get a little sweet and savory with some onions and uh you know that was that was a dish that would be on anybody's table with some cornbread from i mean george washington loved his

Starting point is 00:08:38 persimmons and uh wild game and it would have been you know more small game or it could have been a deer roast or maybe turkey stuffed with the same ingredients or a bear roast or something but yeah I mean he was real big into persimmon as a fruit and persimmon beer in fact in I think if I'm not mistaken Martha Washington's cookbook there's a persimmon beer recipe. So, I mean, you know, it was just, it was a ubiquitous fruit in early America. But let's get into the medicinal uses. And also, I got to say, persimmon leaves are beautiful. They turn bright red. I mean, if you don't have one of these trees growing on your property, plant one,

Starting point is 00:09:20 you're going to be really glad you did. Really, really glad you did. King's American Dispensatory of 1898 tells us, medicinal uses, tonic and astringent. The bark has been used in intermittence. That means it helps with malarial fevers. It would be a substitute for quinine. That's another one of those things we want to look at, you know,

Starting point is 00:09:41 with COVID and different pandemics or whatever threatening. Another one of those things we want to look at, you know, with COVID and different pandemics or whatever threatening. Both it and the unripe fruit have been beneficial in various forms of disease of the bowels, chronic dysentery, uterine hemorrhages. It's astringent. It, you know, tightens up the tissue, stops bleeding or diarrhea or, you know whatever used an infusion syrup or a venous tincture the proportion of one ounce of the bruised fruit to two fluid ounces that's going to be basically take some vodka and steep some fruit in it okay that's all they're saying i mean it sounds fancy but it's actually a doctor would have done that a pharmacist would have done that it would be just

Starting point is 00:10:22 that simple so one ounce of bruised fruit to two fluid ounces of the vehicle they say which actually means like a high proof vodka i usually use regular 80 40 but you know they would have had access to uh well you can use everclear if you want i don't think it's necessary just use a little more fruit you know uh if need be the infusion may be used as a gargle for an ulcerated sore throat one fluid no a half fluid ounce or more given to adults a little bit less for infants essentially when the ripe fruit is very palatable palatable that means it's tasty as it matures at a time when the fruits are generally departing for the season, it means all the other fruits are gone. That's when persimmons are coming in.

Starting point is 00:11:07 The cultivation of this tree would be a valuable addition to our autumnal fruits. They even said this in a medical journal. They were encouraging people to grow persimmons. And they put it as an end note. A kind of brandy is obtained by distillation of the fermented infusion in other words you can make persimmon wine and then they what they consider to be a brandy so nice this was put in an actual official American dispensatory which is what pharmacists and doctors would have used yeah so that's how valued the tree was by our ancestors

Starting point is 00:11:42 according to plants for future persimmon is an appetizer. It means the slight bitterness of the fruit, even when fully ripe, it does have a slight bitterness, which balances out the sugary sweetness. It stimulates appetite. The stem bark is astringent and styptic. The fruit is said to have different properties depending on the stage of ripeness, though it is generally antitussive, which means it helps stop cough. Astringent, laxative, nutritive, and stomatic.

Starting point is 00:12:15 So nutritious and good for the stomach. It has plenty of fiber. The fresh, fully ripe fruit is used raw in the treatment of constipation and hemorrhoids, and when cooked is used for diarrhea. The dried ripe fruit is used in the treatment of bronchial complaints. I totally forgot to even mention about drying the fruit. That was a staple for early America. They would take those perfectly ripe persimmons, get the seeds out, open them up,

Starting point is 00:12:41 and let them dry, usually over like a wood stove or near the fireplace. And that would have been just a staple in cooking throughout the winter. Keep vitamin C in the system, some fiber when they needed it, and they can make those fruitcakes. And you know, fruitcakes get a really bad rap these days because we think of that like weird neon colored disgusting stuff they sell in stores around Christmasmas real fruit cakes are dried fruits and nuts and honey and cooked into a good cake with a lot of butter and soaked down in brandy uh really truly well definitely with walnuts and pecans one of the very best things and uh honestly if you don't like fruit cake, get an old recipe from before they

Starting point is 00:13:27 started using that nasty neon colored citron crap and cook one of those. Bake one of those. Get your wife to bake one of those if you don't bake. It's going to be one of the best things you've ever eaten. And that was the ancient power bar. When my ancestors under King Richard Lionheart marched into the Crusades, they carried fruitcakes with them. They were totally preserved in the brandy. And they were full of calories and a real nice treat. I mean, they were valued more than gold. They were full of the fruits and nuts and spices like clove and cinnamon and various imported spices that they could get.

Starting point is 00:14:09 And soaked down with brandy and usually dipped in wine as they were eaten. And, I mean, yeah, that was a camp meal. I could get behind that. Seriously. Honestly, that is one of my favorite things is an honest to God, real fruitcake. Not that crap in the grocery store. That is, that is as far from being a real fruitcake as, I don't know, Taylor Swift is from being Donald Trump.

Starting point is 00:14:36 I mean, yeah. Anyway, but the dried fruits were used to treat cough, and the juice from the unripe fruit was said to be a treatment for hypertension. I don't know how anybody could get that down, but I guess if you had really high blood pressure, it was worth a try. The fruits picked green and ripened in containers with the leaves, become very sweet, and are considered to be anti-febrile, anti-venous, and demulcent. So I have not tried actually artificially ripening the fruits. I'll do that this year.

Starting point is 00:15:18 Get some green fruits and put them in a jar with the leaves, and apparently they ripen just like they would on the tree. That's a great tip. Anti-febrile means it would help with the fevers and anti, well, you know, demulcent softening. I think we covered the other before. The fruits are also peeled and then exposed to sunlight by day and dew by night. Wow, never heard of that either. If you do that, they become encrusted with a white powder and are then considered to be anti-thelmetic, anti-hemorrhagic, and anti-venous, expectorant, febrifusion, restorative. Well, that's interesting. That white powder would likely be yeast. You know, there's yeast in the air. That's kind of how you start a sourdough starter.

Starting point is 00:16:09 You can either use the white powder off of grapes, or you're getting yeast from the air. And yeah, people did used to do that. Let the evening dew get on it. It's not done much anymore. But it's very interesting. Apparently, that yeast has some additional properties as well. And the peduncle is used to treat coughs and hiccups. I don't even know what a peduncle is.

Starting point is 00:16:30 Part of a plant. The calyx is used to treat hiccups, and that's part of the flower. Peterson Field Guide of the Eastern and Central Medicinal Plants tells us, The inner bark tea is highly astringent. In folk use, used as a gargle for sore throats and flush. Thrush, I'm sorry, thrush, you know, like that rash that you can get if you take too many antibiotics. Bark tea once used as a folk, you know, the rash run of the mouth. You know, babies get it sometimes.

Starting point is 00:17:06 Bark tea once used as a folk remedy for stomach aches, heartburn, diarrhea, and dysentery and uterine hemorrhage. The bark tea was used as a wash or poultice for warts and cancers. By they, they mean ulcerated sores. They don't mean like actual cancer, um, fruits edible, but astringent before ripening best after frost seed oil is suggestive of peanut oil in flavor now that's interesting as well I never thought of using the seed to make an oil it says warning contains tannins and could be potentially toxic in large amounts and that would be really large amounts I mean they're tannins and everything from

Starting point is 00:17:39 apple skins to grape juice wine you know tannins are just tannic acid but you know if you used enough to where you could like tan leather, yeah, that would not be good for you. So very, very useful tree. Had totally not thought about using the seeds, press them for oil. It's a really good idea. Another traditional folk use of persimmon is to cut the seed in half and use that to predict the weather. It was said to tell you how bad the winter was going to be. So lots of folk use beautiful tree, really unique flavor. And like I said, I mean, fruit bread done with persimmons persimmon and pumpkin um game meat roasted with those vegetables and fruit um it's it's all so good and i mean i i'm i am so gonna dry some of these and

Starting point is 00:18:35 use them in a fruitcake i mean i'm literally salivating right now um yeah it's only uh it's april so uh got um um well six months to go before I can even harvest any and uh last year I didn't get any this year I'm gonna get a ton and now that I you know I had not even thought about using them in half the ways that these books suggest and uh man I mean I can't wait to make some persimmon beer and maybe maybe somebody that I know might make me a little brandy off of it. I'm not saying I know somebody, but I might know somebody. Anyway, y'all, you have a good one, and I will talk to you next time. The information in this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition.

Starting point is 00:19:23 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.

Starting point is 00:19:49 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.

The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Persimmon, Chinese Fir and Swamp Titi

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