Showing posts with label Intestinal Worms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intestinal Worms. Show all posts

Monday, July 27, 2015

Wild Cherry Tree Medicinal Use for General Pain Reliever, Fevers Diarrhea,,Lymphatic System Irritated Eyes and Skin, Intestinal Worms

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 339-365


Other Names
  • Black Cherry
  • Prunus Serotina
  • Rum Cherry, 
  • ehrh, 
  • wild cherry, 
  • capulin
  It is a member of the rose family.



















Description

The black cherry tree produces masses of white, fragrant blossoms that bloom later than most trees.  They are small, have five petals, and grow in long clusters.  The cherries themselves ripen in the summer are a very dark red.  They are around 1/3 inch in diameter and have a single stone in them.
 
The black cherry tree is a large and notably straight-growing tree that can reach up to 100 feet tall.  The bark of the mature tree is very dark and breaks into many upturned plates.  Black cherry leaves are a glossy green, lance-shaped with fine teeth, and are 2-5 inches long.  The leaves produce cyanide, which has a distinctive cherry-like smell and is harmless to humans in small doses (Cook).

Plant Type: Medium to Large Tree
Leaf Type: Deciduous
Forest Garden Use: Canopy Tree
Cultivars/Varieties: Minimally improved; few cultivars available

Pollination: Self-Pollinating/Self-Fertile
Flowering: Late spring/early summer (May-July depending on where it is planted

Life Span:
Years to Begin Bearing: 10 years,
Years to Maximum Bearing: 30+ years, but decent crops can be had on 10 year old trees
Years of Useful Life: 100+ years, but some individuals can live to over twice that age


Medicinal Uses
 
The black cherry tree was extremely important medicinally to the American Indians.  The dried inner tree bark was commonly used to make a tea or infusion that was treated for a variety of symptoms, including 
  •  colds, 
  • fevers, 
  • diarrhea, 
  • labor pains, and 
  • general pain reliever due to its tranquilizing and sedative qualities (Peirce). 
  • In the Appalachians, the bark was used as a cough remedy and sedative
There are many other benefits that can be earned from drinking a cup of wild cherry bark tea. Among these, it is prominently used as a digestive aid among herbalists, often recommend to aid with common issues such as diarrhea, indigestion, and gas build up. A cup of this herbal tea can be helpful after a heavy meal, by supporting and encouraging proper digestion. 

 The active ingredient in Wild Cherry Bark is hydrocyanic acid, which works 
  • to cleanse and
  •  decongest the lungs, 
  • blood, and 
  • lymphatic system. 
  • Combined with other respiratory herbs, it can help control asthma. 
  • A cold brew of the bark can also be used as a calming wash for irritated eyes and skin. 
The root was also used by American Indians for things such 
  • intestinal worms, 
  • burns, 
  • cold sores, and other
  •  dermatological symptoms.  
The fruit was used to make 
  •  cough syrups by tribes such as the Delaware.  
The early settlers followed this practice and black cherry continues to be used in syrups in folk medicine.  In fact, the U.S. Pharmacopoeia listed the black cherry bark syrup as a 
  • “mild sedative and expectorant to clear congestion” (Peirce).
 Folk Uses

 

 Wild Cherry, or chokecherry, was an important food for the Native Americans of the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and Boreal forests of Canada and the US, and was also used medicinally to treat colds, fevers, and stomach problems.

 It was also an ingredient used in a smoking mixture called kinnikinnick. 

The berries have been used by Native Americans and Colonists alike to make jams, jellies, wines, and syrups. 

It is the official fruit of North Dakota due to it’s frequent occurrences at important archeological digs. The leaves, especially when wilted, are toxic to livestock such as horses, goats, cattle, and some wild animals.


Dosage
 
1 teaspoon of the dried bark or powder, infused into a cup of water for 15 minutes, three times daily, or a tincture of 1-2 ml three times daily. It can also be prepared in similar doses as a decoction or cough syrup.


Trivia:


  • The oldest documented Black Cherry tree is in the U.S. and was 258 years old.
  • Black Cherry Trees are host to a large variety of caterpillars.
  • It has been very invasive in Europe where it was used as an ornamental and unique fruit tree.
  • Cherry Bounce is a liqueur of cherries steeped in brandy, rum, or whiskey, and it was a popular drink in the Colonial United States. 
 In fact, we still have a recipe from Martha Washington, the first First Lady:
 
  •   “Extract the Juice of 20 pounds of well ripend Morrella Cherrys 
  • Add to this 10 quarts of Old French brandy and sweeten it with White Sugar to your taste—To 5 Gallons of this mixture add 
  • one ounce of Spice Such as Cinnamon, Cloves and Nutmegs of each an Equal quantity Slightly bruis’d and 
  • a pint and half of Cherry kernels that have been gently broken in a mortar—
  • After the liquor has fermented let it Stand Close-Stoped for a month or Six weeks—then bottle it remembering to put a lump of Loaf Sugar into each bottle.”

Legends, Myths and Stories

Dried native wild fruits, such as the chokecherry and the June berry, were articles of intertribal commerce for Native Americans. 

The agricultural tribes prepared some of these for themselves, but being occupied with the care of their cultivated crops they did not put up such great quantities of them as did the non-agricultural tribes on the high plains. 

Consequently, the agricultural tribes traded surplus products of their crops for the surplus products of the non-agricultural tribes. 

 When the Arikaras traded with the Dakotas, they paid 1 hunansadu (roughly an arms length) of shelled corn for 1/2 hunansadu of chokecherries.

 When they bought dried June berries, they paid for them at the same rate as for chokecherries. June berries are harder to gather than chokecherries, but easier to prepare by drying. 

The chokecherries are easy to gather, but the process of pounding them to a pulp, shaping this pulp into cakes and drying them is laborious; hence they were equal in price.

Native Americans made a beautiful red dye from the juice.
Links 

http://autumnsnaketongue.tumblr.com/post/28761318340/medicinal-properties-of-the-wild-cherry-herb

http://www.aihd.ku.edu/foods/agave.html 

http://tcpermaculture.blogspot.ca/2011/12/permaculture-plants-black-cherry-tree.html 

http://www.wildcherrybark.net/ 

http://permacultureglobal.org/

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Trees found in Mexico - Orchid Tree Medicinal Uses for Cancer Prevention, Intestinal Worms, Diuretic, Regulate Blood Sugar

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 330-365 


Have you planted a tree this year? Have you done lately anything to prevent deforestation ? We need to leave the Earth in a better shape that we found it. Here is a idea for a tree - Orchid Tree
















 

Orchid Tree (English) Arbol de las Orquídeas is Bauhinia variegata, a native of India and China and a member of the enormous Fabaceae (Bean) Family. The showy, fragrant flowers, 3-4 inches across (7-10 cm) bear 5 or 6 upward-arching stamens. At first the blossoms are white with a dark pink central spot, but with age flowers turn into deep shades of magenta, lavender or purplish blue. 
 
At Hacienda Chichen the Orchid-Tree blooms at the end of the rainy season (late fall) and eventually is laden with flattish seed pods, foot-long legumes. Note the unusual leaf shape, which reminds some people of a  cow foot indented on both ends, and others of butterflies with rounded wings. Flowers are edible in salads
 
Other Names 


Butterfly Tree, Mountain Ebony, Geranium Tree, Purple Bauhinia Bauhinia purpurea, Kachnar

 
Description

Appearance: Semi-deciduous tree to 15 m (50 ft) tall, with a spreading crown.
Leaves: Alternate, long petioled, to 3 cm (1.25 in) long, thin-leathery, simple but deeply cleft at apex, forming 2 large rounded lobes; lower surfaces downy, especially at top of petiole; blades with 11–13 veins extending from heart-shaped or rounded base.
Flowers: Showy, fragrant, in few-flowered clusters near stem tips; 5 petals, clawed, overlapping, pale magenta to indigo (occasionally white), with dark red and yellow also on upper petal; 5 stamens (rarely 6).
Fruit: A flat, oblong pod, to 30 cm (1ft) long, 10–15-seeded.
 
History
This plant is grouped into the Leguminosae and subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The genus contains about 300 species spread around the world in tropical and subtropical climates. Its name honors two brothers, John and Caspar Bauhin, noted 16th century European herbalists. The species is native to a huge range from India to the Malay Peninsula. This is one parent species of the Hong Kong Orchid Tree.
Lore
Long flat seed pods that follow the seeds is key to its place in the pea family.
Medicinal Uses
 
In the Ayurvedic texts, sushruta Samhita and Charaka Samhita, many therapeutic properties have been ascribed to kachnar.
Kachnar is believed to pacify the 3 doshas of Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
Some of the benefits of extracts of the orchid tree that studies have revealed are :

  • Regulate blood sugar. The protein present in the leaves have insulin like activity.
  • Protect the kidneys against toxicity and damage due to accumulation of toxic chemicals.
  • Protect the liver. Extracts of kachnar protect the liver against carbon tetrachloride toxicity.
  • Heal intestinal ulcers by decreasing the output of gastric acids.
  • Control the formation of tumors and also possess cancer preventing properties.
  • Heal wounds faster when compared to a control group.
  • Has tonic and restorative properties.
  • Relieve diarrhea and remove intestinal worms.
  • Act as a diuretic.
  • Have anti inflammatory and anti microbial properties.
  • Decoction of kachnar bark is useful in alleviating skin diseases.  
  • has been used to treat leprosy.
  • Kachnar has the capacity to purify the air by cleaning up the atmospheric and soil pollution. The roots have nitrogen fixing properties.
  • The flowers and buds are useful in flatulence and joint pains.
  • A decoction made from the root of the kachnar is said to prevent people becoming obese. 
  • An infusion of the flower buds is good to get rid of coughs.

Some Ayurvedic Remedies With Kachnar

  • For Mouth Ulcers & Bad Breath
Take dried bark pf kachnar and pound it coarsely. To 10 grams of this add 400 ml water. Let it come to a boil and then simmer till about 100 ml of water remains.
Remove from heat, cool a bit and filter the water. Gargle with this water while still warm. Do this 2 to 3 times daily. This is a very effective remedy for mouth ulcers and works even where other medications have failed to provide relief.
  • For Diarrhea And Intestinal Mucus
Powder the bark. Take 3 grams of this powder with water twice a day; once in the morning and again in the evening.
  • For Difficulty In Urination
Remove the seeds from the long pod like fruit. Powder the seeds. Take 1 gram of this seed powder twice a day, in the morning and evening, with water. It relieves problems in urination.
  • For Liver Problems And Jaundice
Extract juice from kachnar leaves. Drink 2 times a day. Dose adults 50 ml and children 15 ml.
This juice improves the liver function and reduces enlargement of the liver.
  • For Thyroid Problems And Tonsils
Pound about 20 grams of kachnar bark and add 200 ml of water to it. Boil and then simmer the water till it reduces to 50 ml.
Strain and drink.
  • To Improve Appetite
Drink juice of kachnar leaves.
  • For Tumors, Cysts & Fibroids
Boil 5 grams of dry bark or 10 grams of fresh bark in 400 ml of water till the water is reduced to 100 ml. Strain and drink.

Plant and Care 

Orchid tree culture is fairly straightforward. Growing orchid trees thrive in full sun and do well in bright shade. They must have well drained soil and when planting an orchid tree, care should be taken to place it outside the reach of a sprinkler system.

Orchid trees, once established, can withstand drought conditions, but cannot tolerate temperatures below 15°F (-9°C).

Links

  • http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2325/  
  • http://saorchard.co.za/tree-care/planting-trees/
  • http://www.jyoungpharm.in/article.asp?issn=0975-1483;year=2009;volume=1;issue=1;spage=36;epage=41;aulast=Golwala;type=0
  • http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/124499
  • http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/3/1_MeetingAbstracts/A64
  • http://www.indexscholar.com/?record=1138749
  • http://www.greenpharmacy.info/article.asp?issn=0973-8258;year=2009;volume=3;issue=1;spage=70;epage=74;aulast=Ghaisas
  • http://www.ijppsjournal.com/Vol5Suppl2/6808.pdf
  • http://www.japtr.org/article.asp?issn=2231-4040;year=2011;volume=2;issue=2;spage=132;epage=134;aulast=Mali;type=0
  • http://www.ijp-online.com/article.asp?issn=0253-7613;year=2009;volume=41;issue=5;spage=227;epage=232;aulast=Rajani
  • http://www.academia.edu/3442043/Phytochemical_screening_and_antimicrobial_activity_of_Bauhinia_variegata_Linn
  • http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=rjphyto.2011.89.97&org=10
  • http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.ca/2010/07/kachnar-or-orchid-treeexotic-spring.html
  • http://www.researchgate.net/publication/221705120_Spectrum_of_Pharmacological_Activities_from_Bauhinia_variegata_A_Review