The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Sorbus and Bladder Nut

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. I hope everybody had a wonderful new year and a great Christmas. I actually had to miss last week's show because some little virus was going around and my voice went, you know, basically so hoarse. And then I was talking so deep and raspy it was just ridiculous. But getting back to the swing of things this week, we're going to talk about Sorbus americana. That's American mountain ash or American rowan. Like, you know, we've talked about certain plants before that used to be very popular as food and medicine plants in early America. Sorbus was one. It used to be planted commonly.

Starting point is 00:00:44 It used to be propagated. Now people have pretty much forgotten about it. There are 23 varieties of Sorbus that have been found useful in herbal medicine. I'm not going to try to name them all. The only one that's native to my region is American Mountain Ash or American Rowan. Now it's rarely seen where I live it's basically a large member of the Rose family and it does grow in many parts of the Appalachian Mountains and like I said it was once a really important food source and now it's forgotten so it's a pretty very pretty tree I would definitely recommend trying to find some and propagate it.

Starting point is 00:01:27 Out of the, let's say, 23 varieties, there are probably some that are going to grow about wherever you live. Because there's some that are specific to the mountains, like Sitka Mountain Ash. Or, oh, I guess Western Mountain Ash, I think is maybe a more mountain tree. But then there are also a lot of European varieties. There's a French Mountain Ash. There's a Swedish Ash. There's also Wild Service Berry, which I think would grow most anywhere. And there's a Korean variety.

Starting point is 00:02:00 So, you know, check it out. Maybe you'll find one that will work for you. It's been described in herbal medicine going back a long time. D.S. Corides, about 2,000 years ago in Greece, called the tree uva, U-V-A, and said the fruit, when yellowish in color and not quite ripe, cut apart and dry in the sun, is astringent for the bowels. In other words, it would help stop diarrhea or bleeding or anything like that and could also be ground up and eaten as a meal what I mean like cornmeal he said polenta and

Starting point is 00:02:35 of course back then they didn't have corn in Greece they had wheat so think cream of wheat so it can kind of get that consistency and taken as a decoction as a drink does the same so gerard 1500's england said service berries are cold and binding and much more when they be hard or not ripe when they are mild and soft or much more when hard than when they are mild and soft and they do quickly soften and see that's why we don't really see them in the store very much our fruit that we see in grocery stores is made to keep as long as possible you know it's not made grown to be the most flavorful or the most nutritious it's just grown to keep for a long time on the shelves without getting soft and rotten so that's why we don't have paw paws and a lot of stuff that you know our ancestors really would have taken for

Starting point is 00:03:28 granted he said they could be aged by hanging in a place which is not altogether cold or laid in hay or chaff and that they would stay hard a little more. They wouldn't ripen as quickly and they could be used for again diarrhea and such as that. He thought they were a little fibrous and he thought they could upset the stomach when eaten ripe and said to use them medicinally. He said they do stay all minor fluxes of the belly and likewise the bloody flux and also vomiting. They staunch bleeding if they be cut and dried in the sun before they be ripe and so

Starting point is 00:04:13 reserved for use. They may be used in diverse ways according to the manner of the grief and the grieved part. About a hundred years later, Culpepper says of the service tree, which in England grows into a pretty large tree, and so does the mountain ash. I've seen great stands of them going up toward Virginia and such. He describes it, and we don't need to get into that. You can just google it. He said that, let's see, when they're not quite ripe, they had an austere, rough taste, but when ripe, they're mellow, sweet, and pleasant. So he did think they were good for food. He said, very astringent, good for all kinds of fluxes when unripe, but when ripe, they are not binding. He said, even in his time, 1600 Englands, he said,

Starting point is 00:04:59 the fruit is seldom to be met in our markets for it spoils quickly. He recommended growing the service tree or ash, rowan, whatever in the garden and heavily fertilizing it. He thought it was a really good plant to grow and it is it's an attractive tree. He talks about the color of it and we don't need to get into all that but under government and virtues virtues, he says, the fruit, as I said, is used for deformer, again, astringent, he's talking for diarrhea and such, being of the same nature, and rather astringent and binding, being good for all kinds of fluxes, either blood or humors. When ripe, it is pleasant and grateful to the stomach, promoting digestion and preventing a too hasty passage of the food, and is commended in fevers attended with diarrhea.

Starting point is 00:05:54 If they be dried before they be mellow and kept all the year, they may be used in decoctions for the same purpose, either to drink or to bathe the parts requiring it, and are profitably used in that manner to stay the bleeding of wounds of the mouth or nose or to be applied to the forehead or the nape of the neck so uh we'll get into more uh what about 1900 or so brother rowan the swiss herbalist i believe you swiss yeah he said rowan berries are stringent and the sap was formerly recommended for vomiting and heavy bleeding

Starting point is 00:06:31 about the same time in early america well not early america this is 1898 so you know just about 100 years ago america's not been around that very long, has it? The King's Medical Dispensatory was still recommending Roan or Ash or whatever you want to call it, Sorbus, Sorbus is what we really ought to call it. That's the Latin name, so there's noion, a lot of mucus, or it can be excess saliva in some cases. The bark and unripe fruit are employed in infusion or decoction in scurvy and diarrhea, very high in vitamin C, another reason they were a favored food of our ancestors. And topically, to relaxations of anal and vaginal walls and throat, in other words, to tighten tissue,

Starting point is 00:07:44 all with profuse secretion the various stringent qualities of the sorbus render it a good agent for poultices when one of such character is desired we got related species pyrus americana sorbus americana those are two they said that are indigenous to america resembling the european tree but bearing smaller fruits both are known as american mountain ash i do think those i saw up toward blacksburg they had been um crossbred with european because the fruit was much larger than i ever see around home anyway um could be used somewhat interchangeably with Cretaceous and Crabapple, which is interesting, and also Choke Cherry.

Starting point is 00:08:32 Both of these species have the properties of Sorbus. The Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Central and Medicinal Plants tells us American Indians use tea from the ripe fruits for scurvy and worms, tea made from the inner bark or buds for colds, debility, boils, diarrhea, tonsillitis, also as a blood purifier, appetite stimulant, astringent, and tonic. So, that is sorbus. As I said, a mostly forgotten tree. Almost entirely forgotten as both food and medicinal.

Starting point is 00:09:06 One, if you can find it in the woods spot it you're not gonna really have to compete with any people for it just the animals because most people aren't gonna know where it is and the animals do like it so it's good to scout for game and such but yeah it'd be really nice as cold pepper said to incorporate it into your landscape you know what I've got a very short entry for the next tree. Let's just go ahead and do this one. And it's a bladder nut. Five varieties.

Starting point is 00:09:31 The Latin name is Staphylia. There we go. Staphylia. S-T-A-P-H-Y-L-E-A. More commonly known as bladder nut. That's how I know it. And there's only one native to my region, P-H-Y-L-E-A. More commonly known as bladder nut. That's how I know it. And there's only one native to my region,

Starting point is 00:09:50 although five have documented use in herbal medicine. And the one that grows here is Staphylia trifolia, or American bladder nut. And the only information I could get from it in modern use is from Plants for the Future. It says an infusion of the powdered bark has been used as a wash for sore faces. Doesn't say why your face would be sore. Is it a sunburn? I don't know. So the seed is edible and said to be quite good and yes it is a rather good seed but it's another one of those

Starting point is 00:10:20 forgotten trees that people don't grow anymore and most people wouldn't even know what a bladder nut is. I did find some older use from Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests written in the 1860s. At that point it was found in abundance around Charleston and New Bern. So more of a coastal plant. Probably a slightly different variety than the one that grows in the mountains around me. So I have no idea. But he also mentioned, said, in the deep woods of North Carolina and Tennessee, it was growing.

Starting point is 00:10:55 So yeah, probably a couple varieties growing in different places. I don't know. But he says, the outer bark of the oldest shrubs near the root is extremely light and friable and absorbs moisture. It has been used with advantage as a substitute for agaric and other styptics. In other words, it could be used to stop bleeding. He said that,

Starting point is 00:11:19 I learned that it is much confided in this purpose by those living in the Darlington district of South Carolina Darlington is over near Florence if you know where that is when rubbed on the hand it produces a sensation similar to that produced by the application of an astringent fluid it has also been applied to ulcers when the indication is to cauterize them this This plant merits further attention and let's see also it was found in the pine barrens and swamps going to Florida and Georgia. That's cool. The stems when dried are found to suit admirably for pipe stems so you could make a pipe out of it with a heated wire being passed through the pith so they must have a very soft pith. Much used by our soldiers in camps.

Starting point is 00:12:09 And now 1868 becoming, to some extent, an article of trade. So the Confederate soldiers were harvesting probably the root to use as a styptic for wounds. And were making pipe stems in the evenings and trading with people for food and whatever else they needed so interesting history interesting plant and uh yeah it's another one of those that you we probably ought to bring back i mean we probably ought to kind of reintroduce this into uh modern use because it is it is tasty actually all right y'. I am going to wrap it up there. Have a 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.

Starting point is 00:13:09 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.

Starting point is 00:13:42 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: Sorbus and Bladder Nut

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