Features: Indigenous to the northern part of the United States and Canada;. a handsome shrub, growing in low rich lands, woods and borders of fields, presenting a showy appearance of flowers in June. The flowers are succeeded by red, very acid berries, resembling low cranberries, and sometimes substituted for them. They remain on the bush after the leaves have fallen and throughout the winter. The bark has no smell, but has a peculiar bitterish and astringent taste, which leaves a clean feeling in the mouth. Viburnine is the active principle found in the dried bark of the stem. The berries are a rich source of Vitamins C and K. Medicinal Part: The bark. Solvents: Water, diluted alcohol. Bodily Influence: Antispasmodic, Nervine, Tonic, Astringent, Diuretic. Uses: Known to American practitioners for the conditions of which the name implies, Cramp bark, giving relief to cramps and spasms of involuntary muscular contractions such as in asthma, hysteria; cramps of female during pregnancy, preventing the attack entirely if used daily for the last two or three months of gestation.
Steep 1 teaspoonful of the cut bark in l cup of boiling water for ½ hr.; when cold, drink 1 or 2 cupfuls a day. Of the tincture, ½ fl. dram. Spasmodic Compounds:
Add to 2 quarts of the best sherry wine 2 oz. Cramp bark( Viburnum opulus), 1 oz. Skull cap( Scutellaria) 1 oz. Skunk cabbage( Symplocarpus foetidus) ½ oz. Cloves( Eugenia caryophyllus) 2 dram. Capsicum
Combine ingredients in powder form, or coarsely bruised. Let stand in covered container at least 24 hr. shaking daily.
CRAMPBARK, HIGH Viburnum opulus, L.( Bello-Russ. Academy of Science, Minsk, 1967.)
Dose: Half a wineglassful, two or three times a day. Externally: Seasonal but worth remembering. The low cranberry( and probably the high cranberry will have the same results) is known to be direct medication for dangerous erysipelas. If applied early this malady yields at once. Also for malignant ulcers and scarlet fever when applied to the throat. Pound the berries and spread them in a fold of old cotton cloth and apply over the entire diseased surface and the inflammation will speedily subside. Its usefulness is universally acknowledged. Homoeopathic Clinical: Tincture of fresh bark, collected in October or November— After-pains, Cough( of pregnancy), Cramps, Dysmenorrhoea( spasmodic, neuralgia, membranous), Ears( painful), Epididymitis. Headache, Hysteria, Labour pains( false), Lumbago, Menstruation( painful), Miscarriage, Ovaries( pain in), Paralysis, Uterus( cramps in, bearing down in). Russian Experience: If you attend a Russian concert, or listen to one on the radio you will hear a