TACAMAHAC Populus balsamifera, L.( N. O.: Salicaceae)
Common Name: Balsam Poplar. Features: The name of various oleoresins allied to elemi; balsam is exuded by different species of trees found in East India, Africa, Brazil and Siberia. Our Balsam poplar is found in northern parts of the United States and Canada.
This tree attains a height of 50 – 70 ft., with a trunk about 18 in. in diameter. The branches are smooth, round and deep brown. The leaves are ovate, gradually tapering and dentate, deep-green above and smooth on both sides. In America the leaf buds are in bloom in April, and this is the official part and time for collection. They have an agreeable, incense-like odour and an unpleasant, bitterish taste. The balsamic juice is collected in Canada in shells and sent to Europe under the name of Tacamahaea.
The Populus balsamifera is generally confused with the Populus canadensis, from whose buds we get the virtues known as the Balm of Gilead; but it is much the superior tree for medical purposes. Medicinal Part: The buds. Solvent: Alcohol. Bodily Influence: Stimulant, Expectorant, Tonic, Diuretic. Anti-scorbutic. Uses: The buds are used as a stimulating expectorant for all conditions affecting the respiratory functions when congested. In tincture they have been beneficially employed in affections of the stomach and kidneys and in scurvy and rheumatism, also for chest complaints. The bark is known to be tonic and cathartic and will prove of service in gout and rheumatism. Dose: Tincture of the buds, 1 – 4 fl. drams in water as needed. As a tea, 1 teaspoonful of the buds to 1 cupful of boiling water. Externally: The buds are chiefly used in the form of ointments and plasters for counter-irritant purposes.
TAMARACK Larix americana, Mill.( N. O.: Pinaceae)
Common Names: American Larch, Black Larch, Hackmetack, Salisb. Features: Larch, the common name of a small genus( Larix) of medium-sized coniferous trees of the pine family( Pinaceae). They differ from other genera in being deciduous and in bearing short, green needle-like leaves on dwarf and long shoots. The spruce-like, erect cones with thin, persistent scales and long, accuminate bracts mature in one season. Most species are 40 – 80 ft. high except when growing near the timberline. Of the ten species now recognized, American larch( L. americana), also known as Black larch, or Tamarack, is the most common in the eastern United States and Canada extending west to the Rocky Mountains and north-west to the Yukon River in Alaska, where it is sometimes called L. alaskensis: growing in the southern parts of this area in swamps and sphagnum bogs. The gummy sap that seeps from the tree has a very good flavour when chewed. Medicinal Part: The inner bark. Solvent: Boiling water. Bodily Influence: Alterative, Diuretic, Laxative.