By Liliana Usvat
Blog 161 -365
The slippery elm is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and central United States where it is found mostly in the Appalachian Mountains. Its name refers to the slippery consistency the inner bark assumes when it is chewed or mixed with water. Slippery elm inner bark has been used historically as a demulcent, emollient, nutritive, astringent, anti-tussive, and vulnerary. It is included as one of four primary ingredients in the herbal cancer remedy, Essiac, and in a number of Essiac-like products such as Flor-Essence.
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The genus first appeared in the Miocene geological period about 20 million years ago, originating in what is now central Asia.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, elm cultivars enjoyed much popularity as ornamentals in Europe by virtue of their rapid growth and variety of foliage and forms
The Romans, and more recently the Italians, used to plant elms in vineyards as supports for vines. Lopped at three metres, the elms' quick growth, twiggy lateral branches, light shade and root-suckering made them ideal trees for this purpose.
Ovid in his Amores characterizes the elm as "loving the vine": ulmus amat vitem, vitis non deserit ulmum (:the elm loves the vine, the vine does not desert the elm) and the ancients spoke of the "marriage" between elm and vine.
Slippery elm is a tree. The inner bark (not the whole bark) is used as medicine.
People take slippery elm for coughs, sore throat, colic, diarrhea, constipation, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), bladder and urinary tract infections, syphilis, herpes, and for expelling tapeworms. It is also used for protecting against stomach and duodenal ulcers, for colitis, diverticulitis, GI inflammation, and too much stomach acid. Slippery elm is also taken by mouth to cause an abortion.
Slippery elm is applied to the skin for wounds, burns, gout, rheumatism, cold sores, boils, abscesses, ulcers, toothaches, sore throat, and as a lubricant to ease labor.
In manufacturing, slippery elm is used in some baby foods and adult nutritionals, and in some oral lozenges used for soothing throat pain.
The late Euell Gibbons recommended pouring a pint of boiling water over an ounce of the coarsely ground inner bark, allowing the mixture to cool, and then adding the juice of one-half lemon and enough honey to sweeten the brew to taste. Our pioneer forebears treated colds with such a "lemonade" and it was especially recommended for feverish patients.
Blog 161 -365
The slippery elm is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and central United States where it is found mostly in the Appalachian Mountains. Its name refers to the slippery consistency the inner bark assumes when it is chewed or mixed with water. Slippery elm inner bark has been used historically as a demulcent, emollient, nutritive, astringent, anti-tussive, and vulnerary. It is included as one of four primary ingredients in the herbal cancer remedy, Essiac, and in a number of Essiac-like products such as Flor-Essence.
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The genus first appeared in the Miocene geological period about 20 million years ago, originating in what is now central Asia.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, elm cultivars enjoyed much popularity as ornamentals in Europe by virtue of their rapid growth and variety of foliage and forms
Viticulture
The Romans, and more recently the Italians, used to plant elms in vineyards as supports for vines. Lopped at three metres, the elms' quick growth, twiggy lateral branches, light shade and root-suckering made them ideal trees for this purpose.
Ovid in his Amores characterizes the elm as "loving the vine": ulmus amat vitem, vitis non deserit ulmum (:the elm loves the vine, the vine does not desert the elm) and the ancients spoke of the "marriage" between elm and vine.
Medicinal products
Slippery Elm has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy by Native
Americans. The inner bark of the slippery elm tree is used medicinally,
both internally and topically. Internally, it has been used to treat
sore throats and diarrhea, and externally, slippery elm has been used to
treat various inflammatory skin problems like wounds, boils, ulcers,
and burns.
The mucilaginous inner bark of the Slippery Elm Ulmus rubra has long been used as a demulcent.
A demulcent (derived from the Latin: demulcere "caress") is an agent that forms a soothing film over a mucous membrane, relieving minor pain and inflammation of the membrane. Demulcents are sometimes referred to as mucoprotective agents. Demulcents such as pectin, glycerin, honey, and syrup
are common ingredients in cough mixtures. These demulcents will coat
the throat and relieve the irritation causing the cough. They can be
used to treat any type of cough, but are particularly useful to treat dry coughs. Some demulcents may not be suitable for diabetics as they are based on sugar
People take slippery elm for coughs, sore throat, colic, diarrhea, constipation, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), bladder and urinary tract infections, syphilis, herpes, and for expelling tapeworms. It is also used for protecting against stomach and duodenal ulcers, for colitis, diverticulitis, GI inflammation, and too much stomach acid. Slippery elm is also taken by mouth to cause an abortion.
Slippery elm is applied to the skin for wounds, burns, gout, rheumatism, cold sores, boils, abscesses, ulcers, toothaches, sore throat, and as a lubricant to ease labor.
In manufacturing, slippery elm is used in some baby foods and adult nutritionals, and in some oral lozenges used for soothing throat pain.
The late Euell Gibbons recommended pouring a pint of boiling water over an ounce of the coarsely ground inner bark, allowing the mixture to cool, and then adding the juice of one-half lemon and enough honey to sweeten the brew to taste. Our pioneer forebears treated colds with such a "lemonade" and it was especially recommended for feverish patients.
How does it work?
Slippery elm contains chemicals that can help soothe sore throats. It can also cause mucous secretion which might be helpful for stomach and intestinal problems.
There are no known side effects or safety issues with this plant.
Barks can be harvested with very little damage to a tree, and can even improve the health of a tree, much as pruning does. The most ecological way to harvest bark is to prune smaller branches from the tree using pruning shears or a small pruning saw. It doesn't take many branches to supply a house with all it is needed for a year. If larger quantities are needed might consider taking a whole sapling if the tree grows in abundance and is in a crowded stand already.
To remove the bark from the branches, use the hand pruners to snip off any side branches and spurs. Then take a sharp paring knife or pocketknife and peel the bark in thin strips or shavings, much like peeling a carrot. Be sure to cut deeply enough to get the inner bark, which will be slightly wet and also is usually green in color. The different layers are easy to distinguish when you are peeling the branches.
To peel the barks is to lay the branch flat on your cutting surface, and then take the knife and hold it perpendicularly (right angle) to the branch. Then with a strong scraping motion, scrape back and forth vigorously. This shreds the bark while it peels it and results in very nice finished product, no further need for cutting. The shredding breaks up the fibers nicely, which is very helpful when you make medicinal preparations later.
Barks can be harvested with very little damage to a tree, and can even improve the health of a tree, much as pruning does. The most ecological way to harvest bark is to prune smaller branches from the tree using pruning shears or a small pruning saw. It doesn't take many branches to supply a house with all it is needed for a year. If larger quantities are needed might consider taking a whole sapling if the tree grows in abundance and is in a crowded stand already.
To remove the bark from the branches, use the hand pruners to snip off any side branches and spurs. Then take a sharp paring knife or pocketknife and peel the bark in thin strips or shavings, much like peeling a carrot. Be sure to cut deeply enough to get the inner bark, which will be slightly wet and also is usually green in color. The different layers are easy to distinguish when you are peeling the branches.
To peel the barks is to lay the branch flat on your cutting surface, and then take the knife and hold it perpendicularly (right angle) to the branch. Then with a strong scraping motion, scrape back and forth vigorously. This shreds the bark while it peels it and results in very nice finished product, no further need for cutting. The shredding breaks up the fibers nicely, which is very helpful when you make medicinal preparations later.
Food
When dried and ground into a coarse meal, the sweetly fragrant and
creamy white or pinkish inner bark of the slippery elm can be boiled
into a porridge that looks and tastes very much like oatmeal. And,
surprisingly enough, modern nutritionists have discovered that, when so
prepared, the bark does indeed possess a food value about equal to that
of oatmeal.
Slippery elm's inner bark, on the other hand, does have its other uses
too. When ground to a fine powder, it makes a good extender for ordinary
flour and can be included that way in a wide variety of recipes. And
back before today's sugar-laden treats were so widely available, small
boys were fond of stripping off pieces of this cambium bark and chewing
it. Such a "chaw" makes a sweet-flavored, long-lasting chewing gum that
both satisfies thirst and supplies a certain amount of nourishment.
History
It is recorded that, during their bitter winter at Valley Forge, George
Washington's ragtag Revolutionary War soldiers lived through one 12-day
period on little more than slippery elm porridge. And no one, of course,
knows how many starving pioneer families scraped through their first
winters on the American continent thanks to the same survival rations.
