Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Sweet Gum, Tulip Poplar and Osage Orange

[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 Sweet Gum, Latin name liquid amber. It grows well certainly throughout the South, the Midwest. I don't really even know the range of this tree

[00:00:20] but it is one of the most useful trees. In early America, Sweet Gum and Hickory were much used in old furniture making, tool making, all kinds of stuff. Good wood to burn but really good wood for

[00:00:37] medicinal purposes. Well, good tree I should say for medicinal purposes. Super easy to identify, especially because of the unique fruit of this tree. It's like that spiky little ball all over. I guess that's the only way I know how to describe it.

[00:00:55] 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 an Asian one Oriental Sweet Gum or liquid amber Orientalis

[00:01:21] and the most common around here which is liquid amber Styrofoam flua. I don't know how to pronounce it. We just call it Sweet Gum. Okay, and Sweet Gum bees love it makes really good honey.

[00:01:39] 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. They had a big Sweet Gum tree in the backyard. It was a main shade tree and

[00:01:59] every year my great-grandmother, my great-aunt, 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.

[00:02:15] But you know, I was supposed to be shelling beans and peas as well. I'm sure I did a few, you know. She had chickens, they'd be pecking around. There'd be an old dog, you know, kids gonna be playing in the dirt, you know.

[00:02:31] But like I said, it is in the Hamameliah family with witch hazel, but 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

[00:02:49] written in the 1860s says that Sweet Gum of Sweet Gum, I guess I should say. The inner bark contains an astringent gummy substance. If it is boiled in milk or a tea made with water its astringency is so great it will easily check diarrhea.

[00:03:05] And associated with the use of other remedies, dysentery also. The leaf when green is powerful astringent and contains a large portion of tannin as much as any other tree.

[00:03:19] 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 tannin leather when green in place of oak bark.

[00:03:33] So another very important use of this tree. In former times it was used, 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.

[00:03:52] The Indians he said esteemed it as an excellent febrile fuse, that means with the helps of fevers, and employed in healing wounds. And that was documented oh let's see in a medical journal from 1846. And another one in 1833.

[00:04:16] 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 this weekend tree in Mexico, which when solidified is called copalm resin.

[00:04:33] And is an excitant of the mucus system given in chronic cataract congestion and effectations of the lungs. So this is going to be like an expectorant is essentially what he's saying. Good for the intestines and urinary passages.

[00:04:49] 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

[00:05:08] furnish much gum. I imagine South Georgia it would be darn hot in South Georgia actually. But a small amount could even be extracted in Baltimore. Dr. Griffin did that by boiling a quantity of the twigs and branches. And he found that the greatest abundance of

[00:05:31] 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.

[00:05:45] 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

[00:05:55] water is one of the most valuable and useful mucilaginous astringents we possess. 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.

[00:06:14] 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 mixed with honey or sugar. And the dose of one fluid ounce

[00:06:28] for an adult repeated after each stool, or less for a child. And in Georgia, the US dispensatory, 12th edition notes that in Georgia it was a common domestic remedy for diarrhea made by boiling

[00:06:45] 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. Dr. Wright claims that the syrup is retained by an irritable

[00:07:01] 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 stearaxe aficionale,

[00:07:19] 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, notice fever sores of the legs.

[00:07:41] Good for anal fistula it maintains an increased discharge, softens the velocity 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.

[00:08:00] 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 affections.

[00:08:11] The dose internally is from 10 to 20 grains and that was actually by the author of King's medical dispensatory, J. King himself, a very noted physician and herbalist in the 1800s. A modern use now, Plants for a Future says, a resin obtained from the trunk of the tree

[00:08:31] is antiseptic, carmenidin, that means it settles an upset stomach, you know gas and such, diuretic, expectorite, pericitide, it kills parasites, poltis, salve, sedatives, stimulant, and vulnerable. Vulnery means wound healing. It is chewed in the treatment

[00:08:49] 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 Friars Balsam, a commercial preparation based on Sterex that is used to treat colds and skin problems.

[00:09:12] The mildly astringent inner bark is used for the treatment of diarrhea and childhood cholera. The aromatic resin called Storax, so similar to the Sterex which is obtained from the trunk of this tree,

[00:09:25] 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

[00:09:37] trunk in the spring. The resin has a wide range of uses including medicinal, used in incense and perfumery, soaps and used as an adhesive. It is also chewed and used as a tooth cleaner.

[00:09:54] Wood is heavy, fairly grain, not strong, light, tough and resilient. I think it is sort of almost like a cross string of softwood and a hardwood. It's very nice to work with,

[00:10:08] very nice to carve and such. It 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,

[00:10:21] etc. Very pretty wood. I like to work with it. Peterson Field Guides of the Eastern Central medicinal plants tells us the gum or balsam which is the resin was traditionally chewed for sore throats, coughs, colds, diarrhea, dysentery and ringworm. Used externally for sores, skin

[00:10:40] ailments, wounds, piles is an ingredient in the compound tincture of benzoin, which is still available from pharmacies. Considered to be expectant, antiseptic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory. Children sometimes chew the gum in lieu of commercial chewing gum, and yes that is true.

[00:10:58] 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

[00:11:08] as a chewing gum. It's pretty good for you actually to do that, so not a bad thing to do at all. Botany in a day states liquid amber or sweet gum, the sap of the tree may be used as a chewing

[00:11:22] gum. The gum is used traditionally, the gum is used medicinally as a drawing poultice, also for sore throats. It is astringent, expectant and in effect. Drawing poultice is any poultice you can put externally that will draw out anything from a splinter to

[00:11:47] inflammation, infection even. 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

[00:12:04] and another one of my favorite woods to carve. This one's really probably my top three and very, very useful medicinally. And it's the tulip tree or tulip poplar, lyridendron tulipithera. I have about two in my yard I need to cut down right now that

[00:12:22] are growing a little too close to the house so I'm going to have a lot of this stuff. 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

[00:12:38] is particular to the heart. It has a tonic effect cleaning plaque slowly from 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 and strong alcohol. This is good for people recovering from stroke,

[00:12:55] 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 poplar where it's one of the most important herbs. Returning to

[00:13:13] 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 make, you can use

[00:13:32] tulip poplar as a quinine substitute. 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, pseudo-rific in the

[00:13:44] treatment of chronic rheumatism and gout that means it soothes like using a warm poultice or bath of it. Ambigolo, which was I think actually a pharmacy company at the time, thinks it is valuable as a stymatic. It was administered by Dr. Young and himself combined with

[00:14:02] laudanum in hysteria and the former says that in all material 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.

[00:14:25] They're called the same thing 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

[00:14:38] kind of used interchangeably. So I can't say in this but laudanum of course is a tincture of opium. So again it could go either way because that will relax the lungs and everything as well.

[00:14:59] Said in 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

[00:15:15] 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 laxated, the leaves are used as an external application for headaches, they are washed and applied to the forehead. Good vermicruse properties relax states of the

[00:15:33] stomach. It can be somewhat of a stomach tonic, a decoction or a tincture of it, good bitter. Anything that contains anything like quinine is going to be bitter. We get into a lot of other

[00:15:48] medical journals here, this is all from my book, medicinal trees and we got a lot of documentation on here but for brevity I'm going to try to skip anything that's repetitive. Another French doctor says that it was most profitable treatment for those exhibiting fevers,

[00:16:07] a wine infused with the bark. He would actually add to a wine a tincture of it and give that as an alcohol infusion. And I'll mention that Magnolia has some similar properties, absolutely. Powdered bark and syrup given to children who are liable to convulsions from worms, so again

[00:16:33] it promotes their expulsion, the expulsion of the worms and to strengthen the tone that digested organs the bulk should be pulverized and bottled. It says I have employed a strong infusion of the bark and root of this plant as an anti-intermittent meaning for like malarial

[00:16:48] fevers and was much pleased with its efficacy. See anything else here? It was good known as a tonic for horses as well. Kings American dispensatory 1898 says tulip tree bark is aromatic, stimulant and tonic and has proved beneficial in intermittent, again it's malarial fevers, chronic rheumatism,

[00:17:17] chronic gastritis and intestinal diseases, worms and hysteria. In hysteria combined with small amount of laudanum it is said to be speedy, certain and effectual and also to abate hectic fever, night sweats and co-equative diarrhea. The warm infusion is diaphragmatic and under certain

[00:17:37] states the system has proven, states of the system it has proven diuretic. Anyway although is now so amused, professor Bartholomew found the alkaloid of the plant which is tulip baffering I believe to act energetically among the nervous system. So more modern use, plants for future says

[00:18:00] 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

[00:18:13] that. I have no idea. The bark contains tulip baffering which is said to exert powerful effects on the heart and nervous system, a tea used in the treatment of intergestion, dysentery, rheumatism, coughs, fevers, etc externally the tea is used as a wash and poultice on wounds and boils.

[00:18:31] The root bark and seeds have been but have both been used to expel worms from the body. Peterson Field Guide says American Indians use the bark tea for intergestion, dysentery, rheumatism, penworms, fevers and cough syrups externally used as a wash on fractured limbs,

[00:18:49] wounds, boils and snake bites. Green bark chewed as an aphrodisiac again. Stimulate, bark tea, a folk remedy for malaria, tooth aches, ointment from buds used for burns, inflammation, crushed leaves or poultice for headaches. Botany and Adesis, some Native Americans

[00:19:13] 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

[00:19:25] Canada to take away the bitterness and brewing alcohol. And it's actually listed in the physician's desk reference for herbal medicine, says the alkaloid contained in the drug are antimicrobial in effect, positively entropic effect has been described. A positively entropic effect has been described.

[00:19:45] It's useless, is atonic and stimulant. It appears to be plausible based upon its qualities as a bitter substance. Improving uses folk medicine indicates indications have included fever, menstrual complaints, insomnia, malaria. Under precautions and adverse effects, they say

[00:20:05] the drug is considered toxic due to its alkaloid content although no cases of poisoning among humans have been recorded. So I think two incredibly useful trees very common, very easy to identify,

[00:20:21] the flower of the tulip poplar is unlike any other tree flower and the gumball of the sweetgum tree is like is unlike any other tree fruit. So I think you can get out and start learning these and using

[00:20:35] 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, what they call platted baskets, really, really nice. So

[00:20:57] 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 until

[00:21:09] 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 absolutely got to go before winter. You know I think

[00:21:17] 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. It's Osage Orange, maculara palmifera and if

[00:21:32] you're in the Midwest you 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.

[00:21:43] It's like black locusts. It resists or what cypress, cypress or sycamore. Anyway black locusts and Osage Orange they don't rot you know when you put the fence posts on the ground and of course the

[00:21:56] fruits when dried are great for well keeping bugs out of clothes and giving them a nice scent. Under medicinal uses I only have two entries. Medicinal use of Osage Orange according to

[00:22:08] plants for future. A tea made from the root has been used as a wash for sore eyes. The inedible fruits contain antioxidant and fungicide compounds and also have cardiovascular potentialities. Does it get any more specific than that? But the Peterson Field guys says American Indians

[00:22:28] use root tea as a wash for sore eyes. The fruit sections used in Maryland and Pennsylvania is a cockroach repellent. Inedible fruits contain antioxidant and fungal compounds but the the milky sap of the plant can cause dermatitis so be careful with that.

[00:22:48] All right y'all we will wrap it up there have a great week and I'll talk to you next time.