Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron Tulipifera)

Tulip Poplar, Tulipifera Liriodendron, is one of the most strangely beautiful trees of the southeast, thanks to it's elegant growth habits and rather bizarre flowers. The trees grow very tall and straight, and have slightly drooping branches with broad, uniquely shaped leaves. There were several old tulip trees in my backyard when I was a kid. The twigs had a sweet, mysterious scent that I loved.

Revisiting the trees this year, I was intrigued again by the smell of the fresh twigs. I wondered if these magnificent trees have an herbal tradition behind them. 

  
In fact, they do. All parts of the tree, from leaves to seeds to bark to root, seem to have been employed at least some of the time, but the inner bark or root seem to have been the most popular.

The tree seems to have been used in a lot of different ways: as a nervine, tonic, stimulant, anthelmentic, febrifuge, anti-rheumatic, gastrointestinal aid, and anti-diarrheal.The bark was used for intermittent fevers, and it was sometimes used as a substitute for cinchona.

(By the way, cinchona is the stuff that the tonic water of gin-and-tonic fame was originally made of, so of course now I'm wondering what a Tulip Tree gin and tonic would taste like. Sounds like a fun experiment to me!)

Other uses included an ingredient in cough syrup and as a wash or poultice for wounds and broken bones.

From what I read, Cook, in The Physiomedical Dispensatory, 1869, sums up it's uses in the Eclectic literature very nicely:

"The bark of the liriodendron is one of the mildest and least bitter of the tonics, chiefly relaxant and only moderately stimulant, but with no astringency whatever. While it improves the appetite and digestion to a fair extent, and for this purpose is unsurpassed in convalescence, its most valuable action is upon the nervous system and uterus. In nervousness, nervous irritability, hysteria, and chronic pains through the womb, it is an agent of the greatest efficacy–both soothing and sustaining. The menses are not influenced by it; but it proves valuable in chronic dysmenorrhea as well as in leucorrhea, prolapsus of a mild grade, and the uterine suffering incident to pregnancy. By its influence on the nervous system it sometimes promotes the flow of urine; and it favors greater freedom of the bowels, without being in any sense cathartic. If combined with spikenard, boneset, or other agents influencing the lungs, its virtues will be directed largely to these organs; and then is of peculiar service in old coughs and pulmonary weakness. The mildness of its action sometimes suggests inertness, but this is quite an error; for its gentleness increases its value as a peculiar nervine tonic, and makes it very acceptable to the stomach; though it is not an agent fitted to languid or sluggish conditions, or states of depression." 

Translation: Cook thinks it useful for certain female problems, as a digestive tonic useful for improving the appetite and digestion after illness, and that it has very gentle but effective actions on the nervous system. He also states that if it is used with lung supporting herbs it helps with old coughs and helps strengthen the lungs.

Scudder, in Specific Medication and Specific Medicines, 1870, stated that

"It is stimulant and tonic to the digestive apparatus, improving digestion and blood making. It also exerts an influence upon the nervous system, strengthening innervation and relieving those symptoms called nervous."

So, Scudder seconds that it is a nervine and useful as a digestive aid.

I would love to work with this tree when I get the chance. It's not available from any commercial sources that I can tell, so it will have to go on my wild crafting wish list for the time being. I'm sure some of the trees behind my parents' house will drop a few limbs before the summer is over- that seems to be typical for them when summer storms come through, if I remember correctly. Interestingly, the Eclectics believed it could be effectively extracted in either alcohol or with cold water, but that boiling destroyed its active principles.

King's American Dispensatory and Lloyd's Drugs and Medicines of North America have more great info on Tulip Tree, and thanks to Henriette's Herbal web page and blog, they are available to read for free online.
Also, one of my other standby online references, the University of Michigan's ethnobotanical database, turned up a good general list of historical uses: just type 'liriodendron' into the search box to repeat the search.

Black Willow (Salix Nigra)

When most herbalists think about willow, they think about white willow, Salix alba, which is easy enough to find at health food stores. Otherwise, the word 'willow' might conjure up images of the graceful landscape tree with long trailing branches. That would be weeping willow, or Salix babylonica. Very few people are aware of our native willow species, Salix nigra, or its herbal history.

Black willows have a much less dramatic appearance than the familiar and flamboyant weeping willows. Still graceful, but much more upright and slender. They love to keep their feet wet, and the ones I spend time around have grown up amongst white oak, tulip trees, maples and sweet gums in an area near a small creek. They are currently in their seed-setting stage, so there is a great deal of fluff wandering about in the air. I find it rather playful and endearing, although my friends have explained to me that it is, in fact, a Dreadful Nuisance.

Although it isn't much used by herbalists now, black willow was used by the Eclectic physicians, and appears in several of their Materia Medica reference books. 

According to King's American Dispensary (1898), the bark, root and aments (the long, drooping clusters of flowers) were all used for certain purposes.

Similar to white willow, the bark of black willow contains salicin and tannins. It was used to make poultices for gangrene and ulcers, and also to make a cream for the rash caused by poison ivy.

The root was used as a bitter tonic, taken internally for "intermittents" (recurring fevers), asthma, or gout.

Interestingly, the aments are cited as being used to make the preferred preparation of black willow. This is very different than white willow, where only the bark seems to have been favored. The aments, like the bark, were cited as being beneficial for gangrene. However, their main use seemed to be as an anaphrodisiac. Considering the time period in which the Dispensary was written, we find such language as

"it is especially adapted to the disorders of the sexually intemperate male or female, and of the youth, subject day or night to libidinous suggestions and lascivious dreams terminating in pollutions. . ."

The Dispensary goes on to amend that:

"Not only does salix nigra act as a check to sexual passion and misuse, but it proves a useful tonic and sedative to many conditions following in the wake of sexual intemperance, among which may be mentioned spermatorrhoea its varied forms, and prostatitis, cystitis, and ovaritits."

All of which would strongly suggest that, Victorian prudishness aside, the herb has an effect on the central nervous system, and also that it has cooling actions in the body with an affinity to the reproductive organs. 

In fact, Ellingwood, in The American Materia Medica (1919), had this to say about black willow:

"It will exercise a direct and satisfactory influence in many cases of hysteria, overcoming the extreme excitability and nervousness, headache and the globus hystericus, and will permit quiet, restful sleep. It will serve an excellent purpose in these cases in combination with general nerve tonics and restoratives, greatly enhancing their influence."

So it looks like it could be a very useful herb to add to nervine blends or central nervous system tonics.

Ellingwood also mentioned the use of the aments rather than the bark.

It looks like all of our willows have gone to seed, so I suppose I will have to wait until next year to make an extract. Might be able to make a salve or cream from the bark though- which would be good to have on hand because we have plenty of poison ivy to go around! Who knows, though? I might be able to find a late bloomer or two.

Chickweed and Cleavers

If you need your garden weeded, ask an herbalist. If they are anything like me, they will be happy to grub everything out of your garden that you don't want. . .as long as they can keep it!

After weeding a friends garden, I came home with loads of chickweed and cleavers and needed a quick way to preserve them. Both make pretty tasty greens - chickweed is excellent raw, cleavers is better if you steam it- but I wanted to make them husband-friendly. Especially as I brought them home pretty much specifically for him and his stubborn skin problems.

Chickweed

Both herbs have a high water content when fresh, so I didn't want to use vodka for extracts like I would with the dried versions.

Cleavers

I settled on pulling out my blender, adding water, and pressing  out the juice from the resulting mash.

Life is short- Make Messes!

Cleavers, Left. Chickweed, Right.

 Then I used ice cube trays to throw everything in the freezer.

He takes a cube out and melts it in a cup of water as he needs them, and so far this has worked great. I think it helps that I also used the fish-shaped ice cube trays.

Fishes, my Precious!