The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Rhododendron and Sumac

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

Today, I tell you about the medicinal use of Sumac and give a warning about Rhododendron..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. I think I can get through two trees today at their medicinal uses. And the first one is really going to be more of a warning than anything else. It is rhododendron. Now you know North Carolina is absolutely known for rhododendron, whether it's the rhododendron in Mount Laurel up in the mountains, or the azaleas throughout the sand hills and the coast. mountains or the azaleas throughout the sand hills and the coast. We are known for our rhododendrons and azaleas as much as we are for dogwoods and long leaf pines and actually the loblolly pine is a lot more common than the long leaf but yeah that's either here or there that's you know the state chose the long leaf and that's we're known by that but it's it's actually not the

most common pine. But the rhododendron is, of course, very beautiful. And the wood is particularly good for carving. It's actually known as spoonwood in common terms in England and the British Isles and such. Because you can carve wonderful spoons out of it. Very useful, but it is actually very toxic and probably every year up here in the mountains kids will read something online or something taken out of an old herbal book that says it's smoking the buds of rhododendron can get them high but actually it's very very poisonous

they'll turn green they'll start throwing up and usually end up in the hospital so you need to know about these plants because they are very common ornamentals the there are some like I think we'll actually discuss this under another topic it's it's in the same family as rhododendron it's called mountain laurel known as lamb kill and it was used by the Cherokees actually to commit suicide it's that poisonous and it's called lamb kill because if sheep eat it they die and actually if you keep bees and they gather the nectar from those flowers you can actually have poisonous honey so you got to be really careful if you're a beekeeper not to keep your bees around some of the plants in this family that said there is very limited medicinal use

to rhododendron in Kings well see I'll start with resources of the southern fields and forests from the 1860s. It said, it is well known to be possessed of poisonous properties. They give many notations on that. But it has been employed with success in chronic rheumatism, gout, and glandular enlargements. The petioles act as a stimulatory, but it is poisonous. A narcotic power is doubted by some, as bigelow swallowed an entire leaf and had no bad results. on what kind of rhododendron you're using. The brown powder attached to the footstocks possesses considerable power as an airing. The purple variety is one of the most beautiful.

They actually note that in a medical book from the 1860s, and it truly is. King's Medical Dispensatory in 1898 says, Yellow rhododendron contains a stimulant narcotic principle where it increases the heat of the body, excites thirst, and produces diaphoresis or an increased discharge of the other secretions or excretions and is generally followed by a decrease in action of the arterial system. In other words, it slows the heart rate and reduces

circulation. Where with some persons it causes an emetocatharsis inebriation and delirium. The Siberians use a decoction of it in chronic rheumatism and gout. They put two drachms of the dried shrub in an earthen pot with about 10 ounces of boiling water, keeping it at a near boil through the night, and they take this in the morning. I totally do not recommend that at all, and I don't know that our rhododendron shares the same properties as this Siberian rhododendron. They said besides other effects, it is said to produce a sensation of prickling or creeping in the painful parts, but in a few hours the pain and disagreeable symptoms are relieved and that two or three doses generally complete the cure.

Depending on what kind of rhododendron you are using, two or three doses could kill you. The use of the liquid could just be used to induce vomiting, a valuable remedy in Russia and Germany and parts of France, but was scarcely used at all in England or America, and it could just be that our native rhododendrons are a bit more toxic. It says it possesses a decided control over circulation, acting like a sedative slowing and quickening the pulse no slowing the quickening of the pulse but also increasing the action of the heart so very interesting but not one we really want to mess with plants for future it well they said specific indication uses from myalgic pain

particularly the face so maybe there is some use but I would leave that one to a professional plants for future in modern time says Rhododigin rose bay the poultice leaves are used to relieve arthritic pain headaches etc so if you're using it topically you're probably okay a decoction of the leaves is occasionally employed internally in domestic treatment of rheumatism. The leaves are taken internally in controlled dosages for the treatment of heart ailments. Caution is advised. However, it is toxic.

Known hazards of rhododendron, the leaves are poisonous. Ingestion can cause convulsions and coma. The pollen of many, if not all, the species of rhododendrons is probably toxic. Being said to cause intoxication when eaten in large quantities. So, that's what you need to know about rhododendron. Useful, beautiful plant. Very, very poisonous. Now, let's get on to one that isn't poisonous, believe it or not, and it's sumac. Now, we're not talking, talking obviously about poison sumac. That's not a member of the Ruis species. It's actually toxodendron. It's actually got toxic in the name. This is the sumac that grows all over the place. One of the most common shrubs. It's really nice. It usually has bright red berries sort

of in a spike at the top. We have a lot of staghorn sumac where I live. And smooth sumac. Several, actually. Sumac berries are actually a popular spice in some countries. In Middle Eastern cooking, they use a lot of sumac. From a foraging perspective, they're called the lemonade plant. You can take the berries and crush them and make a tea with it, and it tastes like lemonade. Really high in vitamin C.

Very, very good for you. Traditionally, settlers and such would use them as just a thirst quencher when they find some in the woods. A lot of vitamin C, not a lot of calories, but really quite tasty. You know, a lot of IMC, not a lot of calories, but really quite tasty. The sumac was actually mentioned by Dioscorides in ancient Greece as a spice, I guess not a spice, but just an additive to food to give flavor. We'll just put it that way. food to give flavor. We'll just put it that way. He said that Ruiz was sprinkled among sauces and was also actually used for in tanning as well. It has quite a bit of tannin in it. And he describes it. No point in getting into that. You can just google what a sumac looks like.

The leaves are stringent and good for the same purposes as acacia, he said. Cocchum dyes the hair black. Yes, sumac has actually been used as a hair dye for thousands of years. It is a liquid medicine and could be used as a hip bath or dropped into the ear for, you know, running ears, ear aches, specifically discharges of the ears, the tan and that astringent action would tighten up that tissue and cause it to quit producing the pus essentially the leaves applied as a poultice with vinegar or honey are good for the inflammation of the eyes and for gangrene juice of the dried leaves boiled in water to the same consistency of honey are as useful for many things.

Well, he bitches another ancient herb, lyceum, but are useful for many things. We'll just go with that. The fruit does the same thing, being good food, often mixed in meat, and was thought to be good for colic or intestinal complaints and dysentery. Applied as a plaster with water prevents inflammation from fractures information of the skin and would help take away bruising I said it cleans rough tongues when mixed with honey and prevents excessive discharges leucorrhea and such and cures hemorrhoids applied with oak

coals pounded into small pieces was how it was used for hemorrhoids again it's had a stringent quality essentially it just takes down swelling the boiled liquid of the fruit uh gathers a cream that is better for these purposes than the fruit itself that would be sort of like the scum on top if you're boiling it they would say that using and also uh leaves of gum which put into the cavities of teeth take away their pain skipping up to about 1500s England Gerard wrote the leaves of sumac boiled in wine and drunk do stop the last the inordinate course of women's sickness and all other inordinate

issues of blood so diarrhea and excessive menstruation the seeds of sumac eaten in sauces with meat stop with all manner of fluxes in the belly the bloody flux and all other issues especially the whites or leucorrhea citron the decoction of the leaves make it the hair black and yep we've covered that the leaves made to an ointment or plaster with honey and vinegar stay at the spreading nature of gangrene must have some antiseptic qualities to it to see well and then astringency again it's gonna pull down that swelling it's gonna take a lot of the inflammation out of the tissue but probably does have some

antimicrobial properties as well the seed is no less effectual to be strewed in powder upon meats, which would help keep meat from spoiling, help prevent food poisoning. The seeds pounded, mixed with honey and the powder of oak and coals heal the hemorrhoids. Oh, and he talks about how the gum could be put into hollows of teeth, cavities, and would take away the pain. Culpeper actually had a really interesting use for sumac in the 1600s. He said the seeds dried, reduced to powder, and taken in small dosages stop purges and hemorrhoids. The young shoots have a great efficacy in strengthening the stomach and the bowels.

They are best given a strong infusion. The bark of the roots has the same virtue, but to an inferior degree. So, he liked the seeds and the young shoots most. To get up to more modern use, Miss Grieve in the 1930s wrote, the bark is tonic and astringent and antiseptic, so it does have an antiseptic quality. The berries are refrigerant and diuretic,

meaning they cool the body, and like I said, they're often used to quench thirst and hot weather, like lemonade. Very refreshing, but also diuretics so removes excess fluids from the body a strong decoction or diluted fluid extract affords an agreeable gargle in angina especially when combined with potassium chloride where tannin drugs are useful as in diarrhea the fluid extract is an excellent astringent the bark and a decoction or syrup has been found useful in gonorrhea, leucorrhea, diarrhea, dysentery, hectic fever, scrupula, and profuse perspiration from debility. Combined with the barks of slippery elm and white pine and taken freely, the decoction

is said to have been greatly beneficial in syphilis. An injection used for prolapsed uteri and ani and for leucorrhea and as a wash in many skin complaints, the decoction is valuable. For a scald head, which is essentially psoriasis of the scalp, it can be simmered in lard and the powdered root applied as a poultice to old ulcers, forming a good antiseptic. A decoction of the inner bark of the root is helpful for the sore mouth resulting from mercurial salvation and also for internal use in mercurial diseases fortunately we do not encounter mercury

as much in our time as they did in the 30s berries may be used as an infusion in diabetes it has sort of a hypoglycemic effect bowel complaints febrile diseases as a gargle and Quincy and ulcerations of the mouth and throat is a wash for ringworms tetters and skin ulcers she actually just powdered the seeds and mixed them with lard for hemorrhoids. And let's see, 1800s America, Dr. Thompson, the father of the Thompsonian School of Verbal Medicine said, this appears to be a new article in medicine entirely unknown to the medical faculty as no mention is made up by any author well of course he was wrong as we just mentioned several ancient authors who are quite aware of it but

he said the first of my knowledge that it was good for canker was at onion river in 1807 attending an outbreak of dysentery being in want of something to clear the stomach and bowels in that complaint i found that the bark, or berries answered the purpose extremely well and have made use of it ever since. All right. Let's see if we got anything. He mentioned the berries are pleasantly acid and astringent. He said fill a vessel full of berries covered with boiling water and steep for a half hour. Yes, that's how you make the famous sumac lemonade.

And it is quite good. Strain and sweeten to taste. This is a good beverage to allay irritation of the bladder and in the treatment of diabetes and relief of bloody urine. King's Medical Dispensatory of 1898 says, This exceedingly valuable medicine was introduced by, we don't need to get into that, but by 1879 it found its way into official pharmaceutical use in America. At first, the use of this remedy was combined to the treatment of diabetes and other excessive discharges from the kidneys and bladder,

as well as to cases of incipient albuminuria. as well as to cases of incipient albuminuria. More recently, in addition to the above-named cases, it has been largely employed with advantage in urethral irritations, uterine leucorrhea, cholera, infantum, diarrhea, dysentery, chronic laryngitis, chronic bronchitis, and especially in the enuresis of children and aged people. and especially in the enuresis of children and aged people. Why it is undoubtable in value in many hemorrhagic states, means it can help the syringes, it can help stop bleeding and such,

particularly in chronic hematuria, a malarial form, which is quite common in the southern states, and it was at that time. Its chief value is in enuresS with a marked atony and chronic irritability of the urinary passages whether young or old subjects and it was considered a cure for bedwetting very interesting good for the bloody flux or bloody diarrhea they go on on about all that those specific indications and uses that those specific indications and uses specific specific indications according to dr. mcclanahan are first profuse

stool skin cool and sallow pulse small and feeble loss of flesh and abdomen flabby tongue pale trembling and moist trembling of the lower limbs general sense of lassitude and languor. And they also said the Stumach Bark is tonic, astringent, antiseptic, and decidedly alternative. The berries are refrigerate, diuretic, decoction made into a syrup, was used for gonorrhea, leukorrhea, diarrhea, dysentery, hectic fever, scrofula, and profuse perspiration.

Combined with slippery elm bark and white pine was good for syphilis. And I think we covered most of those uses. They did say it was specifically good for relaxed mucus tissue. Again, it's a you know it kind of helps pull up draw in the tissue of course it's gonna work the same way on hemloids or anything else good for spongy gums and that would have been from scurvy and of course it's very high in vitamin C. Good for ulcerative sore throats, etc. Modern used plants for a future set of decoction of the root has been used for the treatment of dysentery

and infusion of the root has been used for the treatment of PD. We're probably talking syphilis in that case and gonorrhea. We've already mentioned both of those. A poultice of the root has been applied to sores and skin eruptions. A tea made from the bark has been drunk to stimulate the flow of milk in nursing mothers. So it's a galactagogue. A decoction of the bark has been used as a wash for blisters and sunburned blisters. Again, that astringent brings down the inflammation quality. An infusion of the leaves has been used to cleanse and purify skin eruptions.

The berries chewed in the treatment of bedwetting and mouth sores let's see they mentioned specifically the smooth sumac it's just a different variety of sumac was good as a bath for frostbitten limbs skin of it you know that had been frostbitten of course stag's horn specifically this is one that really grows a lot around where I live the bark is antiseptic extrinsic a syringe at galactica and tonic we've already covered all that use for diarrhea fevers piles or hemorrhoids joined ability uterine prolapse etc infusion also said to increase of milk flow in nursing mothers inner bark said to be a valuable remedy for piles roots astringent a blood purifier that's high vitamin C content diuretic and emetic infusion the roots combined

with purple coneflower or echinacea was used is used in the treatment of many venereal diseases. Poultice of the root used to treat boils, leaves are astringent. They've been used in the treatment of asthma, diarrhea, and let's see, anything else that we don't know about, good for bedwetting. Infusion has been used, the flowers are astringent and astringent, and infusion has been used to treat stomach pains. Sap has been applied. It does have a latex-y type sap. You always want to be careful with that. Usually that can be a little caustic. You don't want to get it in your eyes.

But it was used to help remove warts. It's a folk remedy for warts. It says some caustics of ice here since the sap can cause a rash on some people. And I guess we'll wrap it up there. I've covered two actually really common shrubs basically in my area the rhododendrons and especially the Staghorn sumac and it's out right now. Right now the berries are red, the big forage for deer so you know go out and spot your sumac right now. The leaves will usually turn in the fall a really beautiful orange sort of like persimmon leaves but they're long and slender and you'll have this big spike of red berries at the top. They may be you know a little dry they may be a little too old but you can certainly if they're dry you can

harvest them and use them medicinally but you can certainly, if they're dry, you can harvest them and use them medicinally. But you can identify the plant now, and next year you can harvest the berries and make that wonderful sumac lemonade. So, y'all, have a great week, and I'll talk to you next time. 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 in herbs help 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.

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