The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Sweet Gum, Tulip Poplar and Osage Orange

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all welcome to this week's show. Today we're going to get into another medicinal tree that's very very useful and really fairly common. It's sweetgum Latin name liquid amber. It grows well certainly throughout the South, the Midwest. I don't really even know the range of this tree but it is one of the most useful trees. In early America sweetgum and hickory were much used in old furniture making tool making all kinds of stuff good wood to burn but really good wood for medicinal purposes well good tree I should say for medicinal purposes super easy easy to identify, especially because of the unique fruit of this

Starting point is 00:00:46 tree. It's like that spiky little ball all over. I guess that's the only way I know how to describe it. There are three varieties that have documented use in herbal medicine that's liquid amber formosana also known as formosana gum a lot of times people just call this the gum tree or gum ball tree there's a an asian one oriental sweet gum or liquid amber orio in talus and the most common around here which is liquid amber in talus and the most common around here which is liquid amber styraqueflua i don't know how to pronounce it we just call it sweet gum okay and um sweet gum uh bees love it makes really good honey uh it's been used a lot It's in the same family as witch hazel, by the way. And for me, this tree absolutely brings back memories of my great grandparents' house.

Starting point is 00:01:57 They had a big sweet grum tree in the backyard. It was the main shade tree. And every year, my great grandmother, my great aunts, my mother, me, maybe another cousin or two would sit back there. They'd mainly be shelling beans and peas, and I'd be just like kind of playing around in the dirt. But, you know, I was supposed to be shelling beans and peas as well, and I'm sure I did a few, you know. If she had chickens, they'd be pecking around there'd be an old dog you know kids going to be playing in the dirt you know but um like i said it is in the hamamelia family with witch hazel but it's it's very different and the reason it's called liquid amber is it has a resinous sap and that's what gives the tree its name. So Resources of Southern Fields and Forests written in the 1860s says that sweet gum, of sweet gum I guess

Starting point is 00:02:53 they should say, the inner bark contains an astringent gummy substance. If it is boiled in milk or tea made with water its astringency is so great it will easily check diarrhea. And associated with the use of other remedies, dysentery also. The leaf, when green, is a powerful astringent and contains a large portion of tannin as much as any other tree. And the author said, I believe that the gum leaf and leaf of the myrtle and blackberry can be used whenever an astringent is required. Cold water takes it up. They can, I think, also be used for tanning leather when green in place of oak bark.

Starting point is 00:03:35 So another very important use of this tree. In former times, the resin of the tree was used in scabies. In an American herbal by J. Stearns, it was said to be useful in resolving hard tumors of the uterus. The Indians, he said, esteemed it as an excellent febrifuge, that means it helps with fevers, and employed in healing wounds and that was documented in a medical journal from 1846 and another one in 1833 but that entry is in French and I'm not going to try to read French right now. A kind of oil called copium is extracted from the sweet gum tree in Mexico, which when solidified is called copalm resin and is an excitant of the mucus system given in chronic cataract congestion and affectations of the lungs. So this is going to be like a expectorant, is essentially what he's saying.

Starting point is 00:04:46 Good for the intestines and urinary passages. It is stomatic. It increases perspiration. That's how it helps a fever fuse, helps break a fever. And urine, so it's a diuretic. Also used in perfumery, interestingly. In South Carolina and Georgia, well, they said it wasn't quite hot enough there to furnish much gum.

Starting point is 00:05:12 I imagine South Georgia it would be. Darn hot in South Georgia, actually. But a small amount could even be extracted in Baltimore. Dr. Griffith did that by boiling a quantity of the twigs and branches and he found that the greatest abundance of the gum is in the young trees just before the appearance of the leaves and the gum has the consistency of honey and the color yellow and it said it was a pleasant balsamic odor and taste. Said that a decoction of the inner bark of the gum, of the gum tree, I think he just means a decoction made with the inner bark of the tree, in a quart of milk or tea with boiling water is one of the most valuable and useful mucilaginous astringents we possess.

Starting point is 00:06:01 It can be employed with advantage in cases of diarrhea and dysentery we have a lot of case studies by a doctor in louisville kentucky he also made a syrup of sweet gum he said do it the same as you would with wild cherry bark so we know that's the decoction mix with honey or sugar and the dose of one fluid ounce for an adult repeated after each stool or less for a child and in georgia in the u.s just well let me see here u.s dispensatory 12th edition notes that in georgia it was a comic common domestic remedy for diarrhea made by boiling in water equal parts of the bark and red oak, a bark of red oak and sweet gum, a small proportion of spirits often added with advantage.

Starting point is 00:06:56 Dr. Wright claims that the syrup is retained by an irritable stomach when almost every other form of astringent medicine is rejected. So you wouldn't throw this one up. So it'd be very good for diarrhea and dysentery. King's Medical Dispensatory of 1898 says sweet gum probably has virtues similar to the concrete juice of Steerax officinale, which it makes an excellent and agreeable ointment when melted with equal parts of lard and tallow. And I have found it decidedly useful in hemorrhoids, psoriasis, ringworm, etc. And many other cutaneous affections. Also in that indolent species of ulcer known as fever sores of the legs.

Starting point is 00:07:41 Good for anal fistula. It maintains an increased discharge, softens callosity of the walls of the legs. Good for anal fistula. It maintains an increased discharge, softens callosity of the walls of the sinus, and produces a normal result. And the effect of this is without any pain to the patient. If necessary, in fistula, a little creosote or other stimulant may be added. The employment of sweet gum is not generally known, and physicians would do well to avail themselves of its use in the above diseases. It is also used in chronic cataract, coughs, and pulmonary infections. The dose internally is from 10 to 20 grains, and that was actually by the author of King's medical dispensatory, J. King himself,

Starting point is 00:08:20 a very noted physician and herbalist in the 1800s. Modern use now. Plants for the Future says, A resin obtained from the trunk of the tree is antiseptic, carminative, that means it settles an upset stomach, you know, gas and such, diuretic, expectorant, parasitide, it kills parasites,

Starting point is 00:08:44 poultice, salve, sedative, stimulant, and vulnerary. Vulnerary means wound healing. It is chewed in the treatment of sore throats, coughs, asthma, cystitis, dysentery, etc. Externally, it is applied to sores, wounds, piles, which are hemorrhoids, ringworms, scabies, etc. The resin is an ingredient in fryer's balsam, a commercial preparation based on stearax that is used to treat colds and skin problems. The mildly astringent inner bark is used for the treatment of diarrhea and childhood cholera. The aromatic resin called storax, so similar to the stearax, which is obtained from the trunk of this tree. It forms in cavities of the bark, and so if you had a little hole in the bark, it would form there, and also exudes naturally as harvested in autumn. Production can be stimulated by beating the trunk

Starting point is 00:09:38 in the spring. The resin has a wide range of uses, including medicinal, used in incense and perfumery soaps and uses a heat as an adhesive it was all it is also chewed and used as a tooth cleaner wood is heavy fairly grain wood is heavy fairly hard fine grain not strong light tough and. I think of it sort of almost like a cross between a softwood and a hardwood. It's very nice to work with, very nice to carve and such. Takes a nice polish and can be stained and then used as a substitute for cherry, mahogany, or walnut. It is also used for furniture, flooring, fruit dishes, as a veneer, etc. Very pretty wood. I like to work with it. Peterson Field Guides of the Eastern and Central Medicinal Plants tells us the gum or balsam was traditionally chewed for sore throats,

Starting point is 00:10:34 coughs, colds, diarrhea, dysentery, and ringworm. Used externally for sores, skin ailments, wounds, piles. It is an ingredient in the compound tincture of benzoin, which is still available from pharmacies, considered to be expectorant, antiseptic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory. Children sometimes chew the gum in lieu of commercial chewing gum, and yes, that is true. The mild astringent inner bark was used as a folk remedy boiled in milk for diarrhea and cholera and phantom. That is one folk use that was definitely known in my family, which was chewing it as a chewing gum. And it's pretty good for you actually to do that. So not a bad thing to do at all. Botany in a day states

Starting point is 00:11:19 liquid amber or sweet gum, the sap of the tree may be used as chewing gum. The gum is used traditionally. The gum is used medicinally as a drawing poultice, also for sore throats. It is astringent, expectorant, and in effect. Drawing poultice is any poultice you can put externally that will draw out anything from a splinter to inflammation, infection even. You know, several plants can do that, and it's pretty remarkable to see it happen. So we'll move on to another one, which is really popular in the South and grows just about everywhere, and another one of my favorite woods to carve this is this one's really probably in my top three and very very useful medicinally and it's the tulip tree or tulip poplar Liriodyndrin tulipifera I have about two in my yard I need to cut down right now that are growing a little too close to the house. So I'm going to have a lot of this stuff.

Starting point is 00:12:26 The inner bark also makes wonderful baskets. One of the very best for making baskets. The book called Native Plants, Native Healing states of tulip poplar. Tulip poplar as a medicine is particular to the heart. It has a tonic effect, cleaning plaque slowly from the inside of the arteries. So it is useful for the inside of the arteries, so it is useful for hardening of the arteries. A tincture is made by soaking strips of the inner bark in strong alcohol.

Starting point is 00:12:52 This is good for people recovering from stroke, people with pre-heart attack conditions, or those who have suffered several heart attacks and or bypasses. Standard disclaimer, I'm not making any medical claims. This is traditional Native American use of tulip popper where it's one of the most important herbs. Returning to some resources, southern fields and forests. The plant is toxic, diuretic and diaphoretic and is generally considered one of the most valuable substitutes for the Peruvian bark. Now, what does that mean? Peruvian bark is chinchona, from which quinine is made. Yes, you can use tulip poplar as a quinine substitute.

Starting point is 00:13:38 So, in this era of pandemics, this is one of our most valuable plants. Dogwood can be used similarly. It has been employed as a warm pseudorific in the treatment of chronic rheumatism and gout that means it soothes you know like using a warm pole to throw a bath of it and bigelow which was uh i think actually a pharmacy company at the time thinks it is valuable as a stomatic it was administered by dr young and himself combined with laudanum in hysteria and the former says that in all materia medica he does not know of a more certain speedy effectual remedy for this disease. This being the 1860s I'm not sure if this is emotional hysteria or actually the inflammation of essentially the tissue around the lungs. They're called the same thing

Starting point is 00:14:27 interchangeably. And that inflammation of the tissue around the lungs can make you very anxious and short of breath. And you can kind of see why those two were kind of used interchangeably so I can't say in this but laudanum of course is tincture of opium so again it could go either way because that will relax the lungs and everything as well so I don't know said and his letter to Governor Clayton that he also never saw it to fail in a single case of worms. In other words, it can be used to help get rid of intestinal worms. Medical Botany Journal, about the same time in French, I'm not going to try to give you the title or anything, says that the seeds are laxative the leaves are used as an external

Starting point is 00:15:25 application for headaches they are washed and applied to the forehead um good vermifuge properties relaxed states of the stomach it can be somewhat of a stomach tonic uh decoction or a tincture of it good bitter anything that contains anything like quinine is going to be bitter okay um we get into a lot of other medical journals here just all from my book you know medicinal trees and we got a lot of documentation on here um but for brevity i'm gonna try to skip anything that's repetitive another french doctor says that it was most profitable treatment for those exhibiting fevers of wine infused with the bark. He would actually add to a wine a tincture of it and give that as an alcohol infusion. And only mention that Magnolia

Starting point is 00:16:23 has some similar properties. Absolutely. Powdered bark and syrup given to children who are liable to convulsions from worms. So again, it promotes their expulsion, the expulsion of the worms, and to strengthen the tone of the digestive organs. The bulk should be pulverized and bottled.

Starting point is 00:16:41 It says, I have employed a strong infusion of the bark and root of this plant as an anti-intermittent, meaning for like malarial fevers, and was much pleased with its efficacy. known as a tonic for horses as well. King's American Dispensatory 1898 says, Tulip tree bark is aromatic, stimulant, and tonic, and has proved beneficial in intermittence, again, it's malarial fevers, chronic rheumatism, chronic gastritis,

Starting point is 00:17:21 and intestinal diseases, worms, and hysteria. In hysteria, combined with a small amount of laudanum, it is said to be speedy, certain, and effectual, and also to abate hectic fever, night sweats, and colloquative diarrhea. The warm infusion is diaphoretic, and under certain states of the system, it has proven diaphoretic. Although it is now seldom used, Professor Bartholomew found the alkaloid of the system it has proven diuretic. Anyway, although it is now seldom used, Professor Bartholomew found the alkaloid of the plant, which is tulipafarian, I believe, to act energetically among the nervous system. So, more modern use.

Starting point is 00:17:58 Plants for Future says, the intensely acrid inner bark, especially that of the roots, is used domestically as a diuretic, tonic, and stimulant. The raw green bark is also chewed as an aphrodisiac. Don't ask me about that. I have no idea. The bark contains tulipafarin, which is said to exert powerful effects on the heart and nervous system. A tea used in the treatment of indigestion, dysentery, rheumatism, coughs, fevers, etc. Externally, the tea is used as a wash and poultice on wounds and boils.

Starting point is 00:18:32 The root bark and seeds have both been used to expel worms from the body. Peterson Field Guide says American Indians use the bark tea for indigestion, dysentery, rheumatism, pinworms, fevers, and cough syrups. Externally used as a wash on fractured limbs, wounds, boils, and snake bites. Green bark chewed as an aphrodisiac again. Stimulant. Bark tea, a folk remedy for malaria, toothaches, ointment from buds used for burns, inflammation, crushed leaves,

Starting point is 00:19:07 or crushed leaves, poultice for headaches. Botany in a day says some Native Americans ate the bark to expel worms and gave the seeds to children for the same purpose. The tulip tree has been used to reduce fevers as a diuretic for rheumatism. The root has been used in Canada to take away the bitterness in brewing alcohol. And it's actually listed in the physician's desk reference for herbal medicine. It says the alkaloid contained in the drug are antimicrobial in effect. Positively entropic effect has been described. A positively entropic effect has been described. has been described.

Starting point is 00:19:44 A positively entropic effect has been described. Its usefulness is a tonic and stimulant and appears to be plausible based upon its qualities as a bitter substance. Unproven uses, folk medicine indications have included fever, menstrual complaints, insomnia, malaria. Under precautions and adverse effects, they say the drug is considered toxic due to its alkaloid content, although no cases of poisoning among

Starting point is 00:20:11 humans have been recorded. So, I think two incredibly useful trees, very common, very easy to identify. The flower of the tulip poplar is unlike any other tree flower. And the gumball of the sweetgum tree is unlike any other tree fruit. So I think you can get out and start learning these and using them right away. To me, the tulip poplar is probably second only to basswood for carving. I mean, it's really fantastic. And like I said, that inner bark can be stripped in the spring and some of the most beautiful baskets,

Starting point is 00:20:53 what they call platted baskets, really, really nice. So very useful tree, very good. I have a few too many in my yard, so I'm going to have an abundance of this as soon as I guess I'll wait till fall to cut them of course if I wait till next spring I can get more of that inner bark I'm going to have to weigh that out I got one leaning over the house so it's I absolutely got to go for winter you know I think I can get one more in here and because there's not a lot of use for it medicinally although it's wonderful for making longbows or fence posts.

Starting point is 00:21:28 It's Osage orange, Maculara palmafera. And if you're in the Midwest, you've got a ton of this stuff. Osage orange, not native to my area, but has been naturalized. It was once widely used for hedges, and the wood is one of the best fence posts. It's like black locust it resists uh or or what cypress cypress or sycamore anyway black locust and osage orange they don't rot you know when you put the fence post to the ground and of course the fruits when dried are great for uh well keeping bugs out of clothes and giving them a nice scent uh under medicinal uses

Starting point is 00:22:04 i only have two entries medicinal use of Osage orange according to Plants for Future a tea made from the root has been used as a wash for sore eyes the inedible fruits contain antioxidant and fungicidal compounds and also have cardiovascular potentialities it doesn't get any more specific than that. But the Peterson Field Guide says, American Indians use root tea as a wash for sore eyes. The fruit section's used in Maryland and Pennsylvania

Starting point is 00:22:34 as a cockroach repellent. Inedible fruits contain antioxidant and antifungal compounds. But the milky sap of the plant can cause dermatitis, so be careful with that. All right, y'all, we will wrap it up there. 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.

Starting point is 00:23:07 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 00:23:27 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

Starting point is 00:23:45 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: Sweet Gum, Tulip Poplar and Osage Orange

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