OAK TREE Quercus robur, L.( N. O.: Fagaceae)
Common Name: Tanners Bark. Features: Approximately eighty species of the beech family( Fagaceae) are native to the United States, of which fifty-eight are trees. These farest trees vary in size, according to the climate soil. The pubescence of the leaves and twigs consists of fascicled hairs which are intricately branched. The April flowers appear with, or after the leaves, which later develop into the cup of the fruit known as the acorn. In some areas, Indians would gather 500 lb. per family, which was a year’ s supply. These were stored and later used for bread, pudding, soup, etc., prepared fresh from the ground acorn. White Oak bark is chiefly used in medicine. It has a brownish colour, fainty odorous, very astringent, with a slight bitterness. Medicinal Parts: The bark, acorn. Solvents: Alcohol, water. Bodily Influence: Astringent, Tonic, Haemostatic, Antiseptic. Uses: It may be of use to know that a decoction of acorns and bark added to milk and taken resists the forces of poisonous medicines, or when the bladder becomes ulcerated by taking them, and shows voidance of bloody urine. The bark is an agent in chronic diarrhoea, chronic mucous discharges, passive haemorrhages, and wherever an internal astringent is required. White Oak bark as an infusion is best known as a goitre remedy, and is still being used for excess of stomach mucus, which causes the common complaint of sinus congestion, post-nasal drip, etc. It relieves the stomach by paving the way for better internal absorption and secretion, thus improving metabolism. The distilled water of the buds before they become leaves can be used either externally or internally for inflammation, burning fevers and infections; also used for leucorrhoea, womb troubles, haemorrhoids and prolapsed rectum( sitz bath). The Oak bark tea acts like a resin in a strengthening way on the outer vessels; often dangerous fistules on the rectum are dissolved and healed by this method, occasionally using the diluted tea as a colonic. Dose: A decoction is made from 1 oz. of bark in 1 quart of water, boiled down to 1 pint, and taken in wineglass doses. Externally: Excellent as a gargle for sore or relaxed throat. For neck enlargements, fomentations are beneficial if applied often. Indian tribes are known to have allowed acorn meal to go mouldy in a dark, damp place and then scrape the mould off for application to boils, sores and other inflammations. Homoeopathic Clinical: Tincture of acorns( peeled and crushed or shredded); spirit distilled from tincture( Spiritus glandium quercus); water extract of acorn with addition of alcohol( Aqua glandium quercus)— Alcoholism, Breath( offensive), Constipation, Diarrhoea, Dropsy( splenic), Fistula, Dizziness, Gout, Intermittent fever, Leukaemia splenica, Spleen( affections of). Russian Experience: Oak, or in Russian“ Dub”, grows wild and besides being used medicinally is also widely used in industry, especially in the food and tanning trades. Folk Medicine: Oak bark should be collected in the early spring while the sap is active. The bark must be from young branches, twigs and thin young trunks. Decoctions are used for diarrhoea, menstrual disturbance; tea and decoction with honey for tubercular lungs, gastritis, bleeding from the bladder and bloody urine, and as a gargle for swollen or irritated tongue; coffee of acorns for scrofula, children’ s skin rash, hysteria. Externally: Antiseptic for malignant wounds containing decayed cells. A tea solution prepared for