The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Tupelo, Ironwood and Sourwood

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all welcome to this week's show we are continuing our series on medicinal uses of trees and we'll cover a couple today maybe two or three because they're fairly short entries and the first one I want to tell you about is really one of my favorites it's NYSA or Tupelo. Those are the I guess official names of the tree. Around here we call them gum trees or black gum or swamp gum. They're just called gum trees. They have gum balls on them is what they're called there's like prickly balls that the seed seeds are in and tupelo is it's a new world tree you may have heard of tupelo honey before I believe Van Morrison actually did a I think a whole album entitled tupelo honey it's remarkable honestly I mean people if you if you've ever tasted tupelo honey or

Starting point is 00:01:10 gum tree honey is what we would have called it uh black gum honey um you will never forget it it is just so good i mean my grandfather was a beekeeper and my great-grandfather was a beekeeper and i think it was specifically my great-grandfather that had his hives down by the swamp the house was set on a little bit of a not really a hill I mean this is really low-lying country but just a little bit higher than the gardens and the cow pasture and then down at the end of the property was the swamp and that's where he had his hives and it was probably you know basically to keep the kids from getting stung by bees when they were little, you know. Because he and my great-grandparents raised a fairly large family on that farm.

Starting point is 00:01:55 And that honey from those hives under those black gum trees was just incredible. Essentially as black and dark as molasses it would burn your throat I mean the best thing you've ever had on a homemade buttermilk biscuit biscuits made with lard and buttermilk straight off the farm the way my great grandmother made them with that honey and some butter oh wow I mean it just absolutely amazing and he'd take a you know always a piece of the cone and put it in the jar with the honey and when I was a kid I mean that was like my favorite thing I'd run in there to get to one of those jars of honey that been opened and grab a spoon and get a chunk of that that cone the waxy cone, full of that dark honey

Starting point is 00:02:47 and just slowly chew on it and chew on it like it was bubble gum or something. It was just, oh my gosh, it was incredible. And of course, honey keeps for, well, honey keeps forever. They found honey in the tombs of the pharaohs of Egypt that was still edible and just perfectly fine and so we were eating his honey for probably 20 or 30 years after he passed away I mean it you know it's just really great really great stuff but it does all these trees also have some pretty good medicinal value mainly learned through the Native American tribes that used it.

Starting point is 00:03:26 And let's see where I can start here. Well we'll start with one of the tribes and one of the tribes in which I have several relatives and kind of grew up in and around. Lureable Remedies of the Lumbee Indian states, some Lumbee healers would scrape the bark from the roots of the black gum tree and boil it to make a tree to treat colic cramps or worms the inner bark was made into a tree to treat milky urine and diarrhea some local healers would also use the branches of the black gum and gall of the earth that I'm thinking earth galls is what they're talking about could be a gall on an oak tree as well but I'm thinking that this would specifically be

Starting point is 00:04:08 earth galls to obtain a tonic used to treat high blood pressure so not exactly sure how that works but in a more modern use plants for a future says the bark is emetic it means help you throw up op Ophthalmic, which means it's good for the eyes, it reduces eye inflammation. And vermifuge, meaning that it can help get rid of intestinal worms, parasites. And infusion has been used as a bath and also given to children with worms. That's a decoction, a tea of the plant essentially. A strong decoction is used to cause vomiting when unable to retain food. A strong ooze from the roots is

Starting point is 00:04:46 used as eye drops. And that's all I got on gum. I can just tell you, fantastic if you're a beekeeper. It's just really good. Now, the next one we get into is Austria. You may know this one as Hophornbeam, or more commonly where I live ironwood two pieces two species native to my region and king's american dispensatory of 1898 said ironwood is anti-periodic tonic and alternative it has been used with efficiency and intermittent fevers this by the way that's what anti-periodic means you know I've told you before how like malarial fevers would be every like a tertian fever would be every three days a quatrain fever would be every four days and people could basically time it down to they knew the minute they were that fever was going to come on

Starting point is 00:05:39 that's when that virus is replicating in the system, and it's cyclical. And so that's a certain period of time. And so if you read an herb that says anti-periodic, it means it's good for intermittent fevers. Good for neuralgic infections, dyspepsia, which is stomach upset, basically, burping and indigestion. Scrofula and all diseases where anti-periodic tonic is indicated. Dose of decoction, one or two fluid ounces, three to four times a day of fluid extract, one fluid drachm. So we would just as home, you know, kitchen medicine, we would make a decoction. And so you're looking at two to three, one to two fluid ounces, three to four times a day. and so you're looking at two to three one to two fluid ounces three to four times a day again more modern use of plants for future says ironwood the bark is astringent astringent

Starting point is 00:06:31 a blood tonic and hemostatic means it's good for the liver a decoction of the bark is used to bathe sore muscles an infusion of the bark can be held in the mouth to relieve pain of a toothache an infusion of the heartwood has held in the mouth to relieve pain of a toothache. An infusion of the heartwood has been used in treatment of lung hemorrhages, coughs and cold, cataract, and kidney problems. It's interesting. We don't normally use the heartwood of a tree medicinally. It has also been used as an herbal steam bath in the treatment of rheumatism or arthritis. And Botany in a Day says a tea of the bark is taken for intermittent fevers and nervousness now i'm going to get i'm going to wrap it up with one more and this is another

Starting point is 00:07:11 of the great honey trees this is uh if you've ever been in the appalachian mountains you know we are famous for sourwood honey unfortunately a lot of what's sold to sourwood honey is not sourwood honey is very pale honey it's almost like champagne colored and so a lot of people just will sell you corn syrup or corn syrup mixed with wildflower honey and call it sourwood honey. And, of course, that's not ethical, but it's probably more fake sourwood honey sold in America than there is real. And really, if someone does have sourwood honey, it's probably not making it very far off of their farm because it is absolutely delicious. The old folks in the mountains used to say sourwood honey is so good that if you put a biscuit on your head, your tongue

Starting point is 00:08:10 would beat your brains out trying to get to it. I've heard that all my life growing up. Sourwood honey is so good, your tongue will beat your brains out. Well, it was also the honey most often used in Appalachian cough syrups and cold medicines and is believed to have particularly strong medicinal properties. King's American Dispensatory of 1898 says they called Sarawood honey the sorrel tree. That's another common name for it. It's that sour quality like sorrel has, sort of lemony. Official name of it is actually Oxydendrum Arboretum.

Starting point is 00:08:46 But they said sorrel tree leaves are tonic, refrigerant, that means cooling, strongly diuretic, you know, helps relieve excess fluids. Fever patients will find a decoction of the leaves pleasant, cooling, and a diuretic drink. A tincture of the leaves and twigs in whiskey is said to have been a popular remedy in Kentucky for kidney and bladder ailments of aged men, being employed to increase renal secretion and to relieve unpleasant symptoms attending prostatic enlargement, vesicle calculi, and chronic irritation of the neck of the bladder. Yeah, really common home remedy in the mountains for prostate issues it's just it's a diuretic remedy was especially recommended in the treatment of dropsy by dr. Davis of Kentucky in 1881 strong

Starting point is 00:09:37 diuretic powers were generally recognized and several experimenters reported remarkable success from its employment. It was asserted to give marked relief in urinary troubles with frequent desire to urinate, with burning pain at the urethral outlet and urine passing in drops mixed with blood. It was subsequently employed in bowel troubles from exposure to cold, diarrhea and dysentery. It undoubtedly acts by giving increased tone to relaxed capillaries. Specific indications in use. Let's see, what is it, how do you pronounce that? Ansacara, I believe, ansacrida, ascites, and other forms of dropsy,

Starting point is 00:10:23 the urinary difficulties of old men, painful micturation, and scanty renal secretion. More modern Plants for the Future says medicinal use. The leaves are cardiac. That means good for the chest and heart, essentially. Diuretic, refrigerant, and tonic. Tea made from the leaves has been used for the treatment of asthma, diarrhea, indigestion, and to check excessive menstrual bleeding. It is diuretic and is a folk remedy for treating fevers, kidney and bladder ailments. The bark has been chewed in the treatment of mouth ulcers.

Starting point is 00:10:57 Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Central Medicinal Plants tells us, American Indians chewed the bark for mouth ulcers, leaf tea used for nerves, asthma, diarrhea, indigestion, to check excessive menstrual bleeding, leaf tea, a Kentucky folk remedy for kidney and bladder ailments, diuretic fevers, diarrhea, dysentery, flowers yield the famous sourwood honey. So I think we'll wrap it up there there's three really useful trees kind of specific in their use definitely if you keep bees you're going to want to have at least one of these growing because they like I said absolutely fantastic remember if you buy sourwood honey be sure to go to a reputable source otherwise you're just getting clover honey with some corn syrup added to it

Starting point is 00:11:50 and if you ever get a chance to have uh tupleau honey or black gum honey get as much as you can and stick it back because that stuff is absolutely fantastic so y'all have a great week, and I will 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.

Starting point is 00:12:28 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. 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.

Starting point is 00:12:52 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: Tupelo, Ironwood and Sourwood

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