Trees of Mexico Sea grape Medicinal Usesfor Glucose Lowering, Ulcers, Asthma

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 327-365

Names: Sea grape (English), Uva de Mar (Spanish), Sak tabka'an (Maya), Coccoloba uvifera,  Polygonaceae 
Family. Native to America coasts.  Coastal Sea-grape shrubs have stout branches, seldom a distinct trunk.  Inland it can grow up to 4 meters high lovely tree; enjoys full sun with sandy or limestone soil, resists draught well. Sea-grape's fragrant white flowers spikes give bees and ants a feast.  Fruits clusters are filled  fleshy wild grapes, great food for birds, bats, and mammals.

Duration: Perennial, Evergreen

Edible parts of Sea Grape:

Fruit - raw. A sweet but rather insipid flavour. The fruit is about 6mm in diameter.
 
Uses

Coccoloba uvifera is most often used in landscaping, as well as a dune stabilizer and coastal windbreak. Tall sea grape plants are used to make a light barrier between coastlines to protect sea turtles
The reddish fruits of the sea grape may be eaten raw, cooked into jellies and jams, or fermented into sea grape wine^. 
Sea grape wine may also be fermented into sea grape vinegar, which is also useful in cooking.
The sap of the sea grape is used  for dyeing and tanning of leather.
It is sometimes used as a subject for bonsai.

 History
 
The first botanical names of the plant were assigned in 1696 by Hans Sloane, who called it Prunus maritima racemosa, "maritime grape-cluster Prunus", and Leonard Plukenet, who named it Uvifera littorea, "grape-bearer of the shore", both of which names reflect the European concept of "sea-grape", expressed in a number of languages by the explorers of the times. The natives viewed it as a large mulberry.

Reforestation and Beach Stabilization

It is moderately tolerant of shade, but will grow towards the sun. It’s very tolerant of salt so it is often planted to stabilize beaches.
 
Plants can be used for ground cover, spaced about 60cm apart each way.

Propagation of Sea Grape:

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a greenhouse. It can also be sown in spring in a greenhouse in a sandy compost. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on for at least their first winter in a greenhouse. Plant out in the spring or early summer after the last expected frosts and give some protection in their first winter. Division in spring or autumn. Layering. 

Medicinal Uses
 
- Astringent, antidiarrheal, antidysentery.
- Studies suggest antibacterial, antifungal, photoprotective and glucose lowering properties. 
juice and decoction of wood, bark and roots are used to treat dysentery, hemorrhages, venereal disease.
- Applied externally for rashes and skin afflictions.
- Decoction of leaves used to treat asthma, hoarseness and to wash wounds.
- Astringent roots and bark used in traditional medicine of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
- In the Dominican Republic, decoction of leaves used for menopausal symptoms, diarrhea, tumors, anemia, skin irritations, asthma. 
-The plant also has antiviral effects, particularly against influenza. The stems are a pungent, bitter, warm herb that dilates the bronchial vessels whilst stimulating the heart and central nervous system. The stems are also antitussive, diuretic, diaphoretic, febrifuge, hypertensive, nervine, tonic and vasoconstrictor. 
 - In the Yucatan, alcohol added to tea made from bark of sea grape is taken for ulcers.
- In French Guiana, astringent juice from whole plant, known as "Jamaica kino", used to treat diarrhea and dysentery. Decoction of stem used for intestinal disorders.
- Study of fruit of Coccoloba uvifera for in vitro antioxidant capacity showed free radical scavenging and antioxidant properties which may be due to the presence of phytochemicals in the fruit such as anthocyanins, ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds, and flavonoids.
- Glucose Lowering: Case studies have shown glucose lowering effect with daily ingestion of tea brewed from Coccoloba uvifera leaves. There is concern for lowering the blood sugar too much, especially with concurrent use of pharmaceutical hypoglycemics

Preparation of Leaf Extract: 
 
  Preparation of leaf extract is done by immersing coccoloba uvifera leaves in water, heating the water to boiling for about 4 hours. This brewing time must be just enough to dissolve the compound from the leaves. The active compounds are resistant to the low gastric pH and high temperatures.

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccoloba_uvifera 
http://www.stuartxchange.com/SeaGrape
http://www.naturalmedicinalherbs.net/herbs/e/ephedra-distachya=sea-grape.php

Trees found in Mexico African Tulip Medicinal Uses for Infections, Ulcers, Skin, Diabetis and HIV

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 329-365 

Have you planted a tree this year? Here is a suggestion.
 

African Tulip or Flame of the Forest Trees (English) Tulipan Chino (Spanish), Xukul Nicte (Maya) Spathodea campanulata, Spathodea is a monotypic genus species of the Bignoniaceae Family. Native to tropical Africa, the first Tulip tree planted at Hacienda Chichen's Tropical Gardens was brought by Mrs. Carmen G.Rul Barbachano in the 1960s as a rare exotic flowering tree.  Today, the African Tulip or Flame or the Forest  is an ornamental tree common in world tropical regions, as an amazingly beautiful tree with crimson campanulate flowers and foliage.  Its exotic deeply bright orange-red flowers have striking golden yellow edges.  The flower cup holds rain water and dew attracting hummingbirds, birds, and bats. Grows in full sun, limestone rich soil, and its seeds are propagated by wind, birds, and bats.
 

Origin

Native to tropical western Africa (i.e. Burundi, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Zaire, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo and Angola).


Medicinal Uses

The bark has laxative and antiseptic properties, and the seeds, flowers and roots are used as medicine. The bark is chewed and sprayed over swollen cheeks. The bark may also be boiled in water used for bathing newly born babies to heal body rashes.

An infusion of the leaves is used for urethral infections, and the dried and pulverized or even the fresh inner bark is applied to oozing ulcers. The tree also has UV absorbing properties and could be utilized as a cheap sunscreen.

A decoction of the bark is astringent and used as a laxative as well as for cases of dysentery and for other gastro-intestinal problems. A decoction of the bark and leaves is used as a lotion for inflamed skin and on rashes. The flowers can be applied directly onto wounds, as can the bruised leaves which have mild pain-killing and anti-inflammatory properties. Both the bark and leaves have been found to have antiseptic actions.
 
Studies have found that the stem bark can lower blood sugar levels and so the traditional use of the bark for diabetes sufferers seems to have been borne out. (Journal of Phytotherapy Research, 1993 Vol. 7 (1) pp 64-69 Niyonzima, G. et al. Hypoglycaemic Activity of Spathodea campanulata stem bark decoction in mice.”) Extracts of the bark, leaves and roots have also been used to combat malaria and HIV and have antimicrobial and antifungal properties.


Other Uses: 
The seeds are edible. The soft, white timber used in making paper. In West Africa, their homeland, the wood is used to make drums and blacksmith's bellows. 

It has shallow roots and a tendency for branches to break off in a storm. Thus it considered unsuitable as a roadside tree.

It can be used in coffee plantations to provide shade for the young plants.


Reforestation with African Tulip

A tree that invades abandoned agricultural land, roadsides, waterways, disturbed sites, waste areas, forest margins and disturbed rainforests in tropical and sub-tropical regions. It favours wetter habitats, and is especially common along creeks and gullies.

Propagation Methods:

From herbaceous stem cuttings
From softwood cuttings
From semi-hardwood cuttings
From seed; sow indoors before last frost

Seed Collecting:

Bag seedheads to capture ripening seed
Allow pods to dry on plant; break open to collect seeds
Properly cleaned, seed can be successfully stored

Links

http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/african_tulip.htm

Slippery Elm has Been Used as Herbal Remedy by Native Americans

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

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

 

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.

The outer bark of the slippery elm is reddish brown, deeply furrowed, and quite rough. It can be harvested any time of the year but peels from the tree most easily in the spring (when the sap is running). The juicy inner bark may then be pulled from the outer with little difficulty. Spread the cambium bark out on newspapers in a warm, dry room. Once it has dried, it may be stored (in sealed glass jars) and ground for use as desired.

The generally advised dosage of slippery elm is to take between 4 and 10 grams of the dried inner bark in capsule form three to four times a day.  You can also make a tea by boiling teaspoons-full of loose bark in a cup of water for ten to fifteen minutes, cooled before drinking.  Three to four cups of this tea can be drunk per day.  To use externally, mix coarse powdered bark with boiling water to make a poultice. - See more at: http://happyherbcompany.com/slippery-elm#sthash.mLjRrNGH.dpuf

The generally advised dosage of slippery elm is to take between 4 and 10 grams of the dried inner bark in capsule form three to four times a day.  You can also make a tea by boiling teaspoons-full of loose bark in a cup of water for ten to fifteen minutes, cooled before drinking.  Three to four cups of this tea can be drunk per day.  To use externally, mix coarse powdered bark with boiling water to make a poultice. - See more at: http://happyherbcompany.com/slippery-elm#sthash.mLjRrNGH.dpuf

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.

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.