Common Names: White Poplar, American Aspen, Quaking Aspen. Features: About thirty-five species of Poplars compose the family Salicaceae, all of which are trees. The Poplar grows throughout the United States and Canada, from sub-tropical to sub-arctic regions and from sea level to timberline. They are medium- to large-sized trees with simple, deciduous leaves of dull, whitish, dark green with white veins, attached alternately to the twigs. In several species, the leaf stalk, or petiole, is laterally compressed and the leaves tremble or quake in the slightest breeze. The flowers of a tree are of a single sex and male and female flowers occur on separate trees in drooping catkins which develop from floral buds before the leaves appear in the spring. The fruits are one-celled capsules which contain numerous small seeds with long tufts of silky hairs that facilitate their distribution by wind. The bud of this species and Populus canadensis are commonly called Balm of Gilead. Medicinal Parts: Leaves, bark, buds. Solvent: Boiling water( soak buds in alcohol, then boiling water will expel their properties). Bodily Influence: Tonic, Diuretic, Stimulant, Febrifuge. Uses: A preferred agent to Peruvian bark, and Quinine, with the same results but less after-effect. A well-established bitter tonic to restore digestive disturbances caused by disease or old age. The relaxing effect to the system relieves headache due to liver or stomach conditions of flatulence and acidity. In all cases of faintness, hysteria, neuralgia, diabetes, hay fever, cholera, infants’ diarrhoea, Poplar is indicated. It has much value for obstruction of the urine when not due to prostatitis. In uterine, vaginal and renal weakness, 2 – 15 drops of Poplar( Populus tremuloides) combined with 10 – 20 drops of Uva ursi( Arctostaphylos), taken three times a day, is a useful mixture. Dose: 1 teaspoonful of the leaves, buds or bark to 1 cupful of boiling water, 1 – 2 cupfuls a day. Of the tincture, ½ – 1 fl. dram. Externally: If the skin is bathed once a week with a solution of Poplar it has excellent cosmetic benefits, acting as a tonic and conditioner.
For serious skin conditions such as cancer, ulcers, gangrenous wounds, eczema, burns and strong perspiration, bathe the skin with a fresh solution daily for results. Homoeopathic Clinical: Tincture of inner bark; solution of Populin— Ardorurinea, Bladder( catarrh of), Gleet( chronic), Prostatic affections.
PRICKLY ASH BARK Xanthoxylum fraxineum, Mill.( N. O.: Rutaceae)
Common Names: Yellow Wood, Toothache Tree, Suterberry, Prickly Ash Berries. Features: This beautiful little tree grows 8 – 15 ft. high and is native to North America from Canada to Virginia and west to the Mississippi. This perennial shrub is of the Rue family( Rutaceae) and grows in woods, thickets and on river banks. The branches are armed with sharp scattered prickles; when the bark is cut it shows green in the outer part and yellow in the inner. The flowers appear before the leaves, in April and May, and are small and greenish. The fruit is an oval capsule, varying from green to red and blue-black in colour, and grows in clusters on the top of the branches. The taste is very pungent, causing salivation, and there is little odour when the tree is cut. Xanthoxyline is its active principle.