Showing posts with label treating diarrhea inflammation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label treating diarrhea inflammation. Show all posts

Friday, June 20, 2014

Medicinal Trees Camphor (Cinnamomum camphora )

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 209-365


The camphor tree--scientifically known as Cinnamomum camphora--features glossy evergreen leaves and pale yellow flowers in the spring.

In both China and Japan, the evergreen camphor tree grows to great size. An extractive of its bark, camphor acts as a counterirritant when included in ointments for relieving muscle pain.

The camphor tree is a dense broadleaved evergreen that is capable of growing 50-150 ft (15.2-45.7 m) tall and spreading twice that wide with a trunk up to 15 ft (4.6 m) in diameter, though the largest U.S. specimens are only half that size and those in the Caribbean are even smaller

Camphor laurel contains volatile chemical compounds in all plant parts, and the wood and leaves are steam distilled for the essential oils. Camphor laurel has six different chemical variants called chemotypes, which are camphor, linalool, 1,8-cineole, nerolidol, safrole, or borneol.


Culture
Camphor prefers fertile sandy soil. It will tolerate a pH anywhere in the range of 4.3 to 8. The roots are very sensitive to disturbance. They may extend far from the trunk of the tree, and can readily be identified by their characteristic odor.
Light: Camphor will grow in full sun or partial shade.

Propagation Reforestation

Camphor seed does not remain viable for long and should be planted in the greenhouse as soon as it ripens. Remove the fruit pulp first. At 68ºF (20ºC), germination will take 1-6 months. Cuttings of semiripe side shoots can be rooted in a warm humid place in midsummer. Pieces 2-3 in (5.1-7.6 cm) long with a heel work best.

Camphor is a prolific seed producer that apparently does not have serious predators or diseases outside its native range. Seedlings and root sprouts are abundant near mature trees, but individual trees pop up far from seed sources. In Florida, camphor trees appear in undisturbed mesic hardwood forests, upland pine woods, and scrubs, as well as in the vacant lots and fencerows where it is more commonly observed.

Medicinal Use
 

Camphor is used in medicine internally for its calming influence in hysteria, nervousness and neuralgia, and for serious diarrhoea

Camphor is widely planted as a shade tree, screen, or windbreak. In China and Japan, it is grown commercially for its medicinal oil. Camphor oil has a strong penetrating fragrance, a pungent bitter flavor, and feels cool on the skin like menthol, though it also has irritating qualities as well as a numbing effect. Camphor has been used to treat ailments ranging from
  • parasitic infections to
  •  toothaches. 
  • Scientific evidence has confirmed that chemicals in the plant have value in antiseptics and
  • medications for treating diarrhea, 
  • inflammation,
  •  itching, and
  •  nervous conditions. 
  • it has been proved valuable as an excitant in cases of heart failure
  • externally as a counter-irritant in rheumatisms, 
  • sprains bronchitis, 
  •  and sometimes in conjunction with menthol and phenol for heart failure; 
  • it is often given hypodermically, 3 to 5 grains dissolved in 20 to 30 minims of sterile Olive oil - the effect will last about two hours. 
  • In nervous diseases it may be given in substance or in capsules or in spirit; dose 2 to 5 grains.
  •  Its great value is in colds, 
  • chills, and in all 
  • inflammatory complaints;
  •  it relieves irritation of the sexual organs.
 Other Usges

  • Camphor is also used in perfumes. 
  • Camphor is a white crystalline substance, obtained from the tree Cinnamomum camphora. Camphor has been used for many centuries as a culinary spice,
  •  a component of incense, 
  • and as a medicine. 
  • Camphor is also an insect repellent and a flea-killing substance.