Show 259: Glasswort and Willow

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The name down to the clan, the clan to the.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Hey, y'all, welcome to this week's show. Maybe I will
get through two plants today. I got short entry. Young
Glassword was a very very interesting plant. It does grow
in my region. It is like the hardest thing for
me to find anyway. I don't know why. It is

(01:51):
a wild edible and a good medicinal and has a
long history of use in European and Native American herbal medicine,
and it grows in North Carolina and I rarely ever
spot it. It's like it's hiding from me. I don't
know why. But anyway, we'll get into that, and I
think after that we can get into willow, which of

(02:12):
course is you know, a bit much bigger category and
a lot of historic documentary use on that and a
lot of modern day use as well. I do want
to mention a couple of things before we get started here.
First of all, I have been doing new videos on
the YouTube channel got the Orbal Medicine one oh one
videos up there. I'm now doing about one a week

(02:33):
on that. I'm also doing what I call bushcraft and woodcraft.
I've had so many requests, can you please do videos
show us how to forage, how to carve a spoon,
how to make a basket, how to pitch a you know,
primitive camp, build a campfire, catch a fish, and sleep

(02:57):
in the woods, and you know, all the kind of
things I like to do. And I started. I've done
three videos now on my Everyday carry or e DC,
and it's a really basic survival kit essentially that I
keep in a money belt, in my wallet, in my pockets,

(03:20):
a few things I even stick in my hat, but
and then a little molly pack, a little belt pack
I put on. It's just a little almost looks like
a cell phone holder in those few items. And I
haven't covered them all yet. I haven't done what I
put in my hat and what I keep in my
coat and all that. These are things like I can
just put on if I'm going in the woods, if

(03:42):
I'm going more than thirty minutes from the house, and
I've got the basics covered. Every day of shelter. Yeah,
I've got ways to carry on my person. Ways to
make an emergency shelter that allow me to survive for
at least a week. Water got water purification tablets, ways

(04:07):
to contain that water, ways to boil water fire. Speaking
of boiling water, I've got At any given time, I'm
probably carrying seven different ways to start a fire. Also
caring about seven different blades, you know, from a pocket
knife to a belt knife to little hidden blades that
I have in little packs that I could use in

(04:29):
an emergency. Saw Yeah, carry a salt with me sometimes too.
You'd be pretty surprised where I keep the second blade
saw a blade. It actually goes in my hat. I
have covered that one yet, but I gave you the
one that I put in my wallet. Now, will probably,
you know, really surprise you. First aid kit, fishing kit, compass,

(04:51):
and I mean all kinds of stuff. I mean you'll
really be amazed. And it's inexpensive. You can put this
stuff to together in you know, a few days to
a week. You can get everything you needed. You know,
I can spend more than ten or twenty bucks, I
mean like on the whole package, depending on you know,
do you want to buy a military surplus used for

(05:15):
like the little pack or what kind of deal you
get on in the wallet. I mean I got a
pretty good deal on the wallet. Yeah, I mean I
carry so many things that could literally saved my life
on a daily basis. And that's because of where I live.
That's because you know, it is remote. And I mean
I have run off the side of the road and

(05:38):
snow and ice and gotten stuck in a ditch, and
you know, having an emergency space blanket will absolutely save
your life. They cost three bucks and you could stick
them in your pocket. I mean there's little things like that.
I have a canteen that I carry that's an old
army canteen that would be more one of the more

(06:00):
expensive pieces of equipment. It's like ten dollars, you know,
So I mean all totally, you're talking maybe twenty thirty
bucks for everything. If you had to buy every single
thing in there, you'll probably find many things you can repurpose.
I mean, you want to have a cigarette lighter on
you all the time. You also want to have a
faraoh rod. I mean, these things are not expensive. You
can pick up most of the stuff at Dollar General
or a dollar Tree or maybe somewhere even cheaper. A

(06:23):
couple of neat items that I like to carry that
make life a little bit easier. But seriously, I mean
I have plenty of cordage and such as set and
first aid that will cover just about any situation. You know.
Anytime I leave the house, I have on me well

(06:43):
a self defense item of some sort, plus just about
everything I need to survive for a week. And it
fits in my wallet and in a little slot in
my belt and in a pocket and this little pack
on my belt if I you know, or I can
just throw that in the back of the truck. You know,
we're on the back of the truck. Just you know,

(07:04):
toss it behind the seat if I want to. You know.
On top of that, some emergency rations are always a
good idea. We'd be amazed. I'll do a whole video
on that. Just a few dollars and doesn't weigh more
than about a pounds and a half to two pounds max.
I can carry a week's worth of food in a pocket,

(07:26):
you know, in smaller zip black bags, and inside of
a larger zip black bag goes in the I guess what,
the thigh pocket of a co pair of cargo pants.
Or again, it can just be tossed into the glove
box in my truck, get stuck somewhere, and I've got
a week's worth of food, good nutritious food, not this,
you know, freeze, dried MRI crap. I mean good real

(07:50):
nutritious food, solid, real protein, real rice and lentils, real,
you know, and it tastes good, and it's going to
cover all the basics. And you know, after that, all
I gotta do is find a source of water. And
of course, where I live, water is abundant. We get
two hundred and seventy days of rain a year. It's

(08:11):
raining right now, it's raining hard right now. But anywhere
I go, there's gonna be a creek, there's gonna be
a spring, there's gonna be a pond. Water is never
an issue for me. And that's really just about anywhere
in in North Carolina and the surrounding states. I mean
just about everywhere you go, there's gonna be a creek,

(08:32):
there's gonna be a river or stream, a pond. It's
not like the desert Southwest. Now, if this was, if
if I was in the desert, I would absolutely prioritize
carrying water with me, obviously, But no where I live,
there's there's just plenty of water. It's just a manner
of making sure it's clean. And there are certain, you know,
areas of the state where I do not have confidence
of the cleanliness of the water. So you know, I

(08:54):
carry things like water purification tablets or a little cup
and stove that actually attaches to the canteen stoves stand
I should say, you really just put sticks under it
and light them and then you put the cup on
top and you can boil water and you know, three
minutes of boiling water, it's clean. Now you do want
to filter that water first, and you know, you can

(09:17):
filter water with something as simple as a bandana if
you're going or a handkerchief, you know, if you're going
to then boil it, or use a water purification tablet.
You can also get little aqua straws and different little
water purification things for you know, hundred ten dollars that
could go in that kit, could go in your glove
box in your pocket, and they filter like some of

(09:40):
them like fifty to five hundred gallons of water. I mean,
you'd never need what the capacity of those things are.
It's crazy. And of course I can easily make my
own water filter. I mean, yeah, I'm some sand as
a charcoal and even just some cloth, and I can
make a water filter that's a out as good as

(10:00):
a britta and in five minutes, depending you know where
I am, if there's some sand at a creek bit
or if I'm mid the coast. You know, this stuff
a lot of It's like it comes easy to me
because I've been doing this my entire life. To me,
it's common sense. But then you know other people, I

(10:22):
don't know, how would I put it. You know, there
was a difference between people who evacuated, say New Orleans
when Hurricane Katrina was coming in. Wasn't like where we
were in Helene. Okay, we were when Helene hit us
in the mountains. First of all, they said, it's kind
of going to be a very strong storm. Don't worry
about it. You're looking at maybe three to five inches
of rain, and boom, giant hurricane hits us, and in

(10:49):
the blink of an eye, creeks that were like, you know,
eight inches deep became thirty feet deep, easy, eight feet deep.
At least we'll go ten feet let's see ten feet
on average. I mean, because of the way the mountains work,
you know, you have slope with runoff, and water goes
to wherever it can find, you know, Lois Point and
creeks just came up like crazy and became raging, rivers,

(11:10):
bridges washed out, roads washed out, sell towers down, electric out.
I mean, that's not the way it was in Louisiana.
Sailing Katrina hit. I mean literally for like two weeks
or saying there's a hurricane coming. There's a hurricane coming,
and it's coming right for New Orleans. There's a hurricane coming,

(11:32):
and it's going to be here next week, it's going
to be here Tuesday, it's gonna be here. You know,
they knew, and some people prepared for the storm. Some
people evacuated, and some people climbed up on the roof
of their house and wait to be rescued by the government.
I never want to be the person on the roof
of my house waiting to be rescued by the government.

(11:53):
May happen. I mean in Helene, had I had, you know,
my property been closer to the river, I could have
been in a bad situation before I even know it.
I mean that most of that rain fell within a
three hour period, and within like thirty minutes, it was bad.
I'm not putting those people down in any way. I mean,
you only know what you know.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
But.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
There's absolutely no reason not to prepare for basics for basics,
you know, shelter, fire, water, food, first aid, you know, basics,
and so I've been covering some of that on the
Woodcraft channel. Anyway, if you're interested in that, go to

(12:38):
my YouTube channel the links in the show notes, and
you know, share it with friends, family and lovels. You know,
you may have friends and such that or family or
whatever that maybe aren't that interested in herbal medicine, but
maybe they would be interested in basic survival or foraging.
I'm gonna do a lot of videos on foraging, fishing.
I'm gonna do a lot of videos and fishing basic

(13:01):
you know, living just I don't know. You can do
it for pleasure, you can do it for an emergency,
and I'm kind of in between. I always carry what
I need for an emergency. But really, you know, my
entire life, I mean, all I ever want to do
is just get out in the woods and go hiking
or foraging or fishing. So that's kind of my thing.
And that's why. You know, a lot of this stuff

(13:22):
is more common sense to me. Now, some of this
stuff is not. You know, I'm really not very knowledgeable
on like short wave radio and such emergency communications. You
know that's something I'm have to look into, and maybe
as I learned about that, I'll share that journey with you.
But in the meantime, you can learn how to carb
a spoon, or weave a basket, or carry a few

(13:44):
items in your pocket that could literally save your life.
And of course I'm still doing mandolin and guitar videos,
teaching really from basic tunes up to fairly advance music
theory on YouTube. Maybe you know, I got something you
can share with your friends and family, even if they're
not into urbal medicine. And maybe if they start watching

(14:06):
those videos, they'll start to watch some of the HERB
videos too, and maybe you can get them into rbal medicine.
And of course, also I do religious content. I'm a
Catholic author and podcaster. You know I have a companion
podcast of this Moneth's called The Uncensored Catholic, where I
talk about religious politics, religion, politics, various things culture. I

(14:27):
publish several months in advance. The Well Reflections on just
considered like a devotional if you're familiar with that is
like of the mass readings. At every Catholic Mass, there
are at least three passages read from the Bible fairly long. Actually,
not just like a few words here and a few
words there, but like a whole chapter. Usually they'll be

(14:50):
from the Old Testament, the Psalms, and the New Testament,
and then on Sundays there's a second reading, and well
Sundays there's through the Third and Force readings. The Bible
gets read a lot in a Catholic church, and it
has for two thousand years. So what I do is
in advance, I take the Gospel of the Day or
the Old Testament for the day or whatever, and I

(15:12):
write a commentary on it, and people really like it.
I've gotten really good feedback. People say it's really you know,
enriched them spiritually, or it's helped them defend their faith,
you know that kind of thing. And I just published,
I guess three days ago, the next volume, this is
Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings for I guess, it's

(15:35):
January through June of twenty twenty six. So that is
out now. And if you're interested at all in I mean,
I cover a lot of Christian history. It's you know,
a lot of doctrine, theology, a lot of inspirational stuff.
If that interests you, you know, please buy my book
or recommend it to a friend, or you can always

(15:55):
sign up for my Uncensored Catholic newsletter and those daily
Gospel reflections or reflections on the Mass reading in your
inbox every morning for free. So you know, I don't
charge for a lot of what I do. Basically, I
always set things up, whether it's you know, with the
rbal information podcast videos. I mean, I send out an

(16:20):
article a week through on herbal medicine and foraging. I
set it up so if you can afford it, you
can support my work. And if you can't afford it,
you still get so much information and content for free
that I really believe it's more than you're going to

(16:41):
find anywhere from anyone. I don't know of another herbal
teacher herbalist that gives his way as much for free
as I do. And that's because I see it as
sort of a mission. You know, I didn't. I mean,
it was almost miraculous how I'm at the right people

(17:01):
to teach me about urbal medicine and the way I
was taught about urbal medicine, and I feel like it's
my duty to share it with people. So I always
appreciate if you can buy one of my books. If
you can subscribe, become a paid subscriber to my Subsecon newsletter,
very much appreciated, and I give you all kinds of
bonuses and such. But if you can't, I don't ask

(17:23):
anything more of you than you know. Just please share
it with a friend. If you find it worthwhile, use
it and keep yourself and your family healthy. And anyway,
now let's go ahead and we will talk about glasswart.
That is Salicornia. I'm gonna sip of water here. Now.

(17:47):
There are seven varieties of glasswart with documented use in
herbal medicine. Only one is native to my region. That
maybe one of the reasons I have so there was
trouble finding it. It's more common plant in Europe and
really into the Middle East. The one that is native
is Salicornia virginica and apparently makes excellent pickles. I have

(18:11):
never found enough to pickle. I only find a little
here and a little there, and usually when I'm at
the coast, and apparently though it grows far into the Piedmont.
But I just I'm having this is my white what
was the word, Oh, I can't remember. Anyway, this is
like my unicorn. I can't find the glass ward. I
don't know why. A white gosh, what was that whale?

(18:35):
It's a white whale. This is my white whale. So anyway,
Gerard Wood of glass Wart, he says, a little quantity
of the herb taken inwardly doth not only mightily provoked urine,
but in a like sort casts forth the after birth
and draweth forth by siege. Wateris humors and perseth away

(18:57):
the dropsy so very strong. Ioretic is basically what he's saying.
A quantity taken, Oh, a great quantity taken is mischievous
and deadly. So apparently it could. You took too much.
It was toxic. He says. The smell and smoke of
the herb drives away serpents. Amazing. Huh. I don't know
if that's true or not. I've never found enough to see.

(19:19):
I'd like to find out. The ashes are likewise tempered
with those medicines that serve to take away scabs and
filter off the skin. It easily consumeth the proud and superfluous,
superfluous flesh that groweth in poisons some ultcers. Yeah, okay,
Elizabethan English, it's a little hard. Yeah, anyway, good good

(19:43):
for cleansing the skin, wounds and ulterated skinned anything. Yeah,
I'm just skip ahead. I'm always says good for scabs
and manginess. That was used of flower bathes with that coldpepper.
About one hundred years later, at least his language is

(20:03):
a little bit easier. He says, all sorts of saltwort
or glass swart have a cleansing quantity and are of
a great or manifest heat. The powder of them or
the juice, which is better taken and drink purges downward, phlegmatic, waterish, melancholy,
and a dust humors. Well, I thought he'd be more

(20:27):
clear anyway. He says it's good for dropsy. That sedema
essentially to provoke urine urine and opens the stoppings of
the spleen and wastes the hardness thereof, so good for
splintic inflammation. But it must be used with discretion, as
a great quantity is hurtful and dangerous. The ashes are

(20:48):
very sharp and biting, like a caustic, like the lie,
and the lie that is made thereof is so strong
it will fetch off the skin from the hands, would
actually dissolve your skin. So I want to be pretty
careful with that. But it was mixed into compounds and
used for various you know, scabby skin, lesions and such

(21:14):
as that. Let's see more modern use. Miss Grieve in
the nineteen thirties quotes Parkinson about taking the lie from
the ashes. Yeah, medicial uses in action, She says, the
juice of the fresh plant was said to be an

(21:36):
excellent diuretic, the twisted seed vessels having the same virtue
and being given in infusion. But by the way, the
reason it's used for glass wort, she mentions, the ashes
were used in glass making. There there's a caustic salt
that comes from it that was used to fix or

(21:58):
harden class plants for future modern use. Says specifically of Virginiana,
the plant has been externally used in the treatment of
arthritic pain, rheumatism, aches, pains, and swellings. Wow, speaking of pain,
let's get into salix or willow. Sixty two varieties of

(22:19):
salix have been found used vulnerable medicine. This includes every
variety of willow, most osures, and what's the other popular Yeah,
I think that's right anyway, Oh, come to me, as
we keep going here. Only four varieties grow are native

(22:44):
we do have several that have been brought in and transplanted.
We actually have Salex Carolina caroliniana, I should say, which
is the carolina willow, and it's more found in the
coastal regions. Salex humuless, which is upland or prairie well
Celex occidental occidentalis dwarf upland willow, and Selex seri cerchier,

(23:11):
which is silky willow, also pussy willow, which is Selex
discolor Selex purple rhea, which is known as basket willow
or purple osure willow, very pretty plant, very much used
in basket weaving, like the other osure, the red osure,

(23:32):
which is considered a dogwood. I'm not sure what the
relationship is between those two plants, but going back in
a long time, willow has been known in herbal medicine.
It has salacens which reduce inflammation, pain, and lower fever.
And people have known this forever, I mean Diascordies wrote
about it, gosh, over two thousand years ago. Of course,

(23:54):
in America, the Native Americans knew about it, and for
some reason this myth got going, I think because of
that old show Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman there was this
myth that the Europeans didn't know how to use willow
bark for pain, inflammation and fever, and that was introduced
to them by really western tribes. And that's ridiculous. I mean,

(24:20):
they've literally been using it for thousands of years and
certainly recognized the same plant when they came here. But
you know, I guess it was a nice story. So
Diascordes referred to willow as ita. Interesting name that actually
used to be a woman's name. By the way, I Ta.
There was a woman that worked for my grandmother named

(24:41):
it Ta. Unfortunately, she liked to chew copious amounts of
tobacco and spit it everywhere, including the kitchen sink, so
my mother had to My grandmother had to relieve her
of her duties fairly quickly. Anyway, He said that he

(25:03):
describes small tree and the bark and juice are a stringent.
He said, leaves pounded into small pieces and taking a
drink with a little pepper help those troubled with painful
intestinal obstructions taken by themselves with water they cause. Inconception,
he thought there could actually be a bird control agent.
I don't think that's the case. The fruit taken in

(25:26):
a drink is good for those that spit blood, and
the bark does the same. Burnt and steeped in vinegar,
it tastes takes away calices and corns when rubbed on them.
The juice from the leaves and barked warmed with rose
oil and a cup of Mallium punicum malum punicum. It's

(25:47):
gonna be something in the apple family. I'm not sure.
Oh pomegranate, Oh, okay, totally wrong about that. It's a
pomegranate juice. Interesting, would help with sores of the ears,
and you know it's gonna reduce inflammation such in the
ear and a decoction taken to them as an excellent
warm pack for the gout. It also cleanses away the

(26:08):
skurf for exema. That's what they used to call it,
a skurf. A juice is taken. It's still used today
for that reason. Most of the creams for lotions and
shampoos that you can get over the counter on the
drug store for exima are aspiren based. Not all you
can also have those are coal tar based, but most

(26:30):
are actually aspirin based. A juice taken from it at
the time it is flowering, the bark being cut has
the ability to way to clean away things that darken
the pupils. I don't know about that, But oddly enough,
Saint Hildegard vom Bingen did not care for willow at all.

(26:51):
She said, the willow is cold and it designates vices
since it seems to be beautiful. It is not useful
for people except in serving external uses, and is not
good for medicine. It's fruit and juice is bitter and
not good for human use. If one wishes to eat it,
it stirs up and augments melancholy in him, makes him

(27:12):
bitter inside, and diminishes his health and happiness. I don't
know why she felt that way, and I also, of
course don't know around eleven hundred and eighty to eleven
hundred when she was writing what it was being used
for at the time. And there's definitely cooling property to Sallason,

(27:32):
and it's bitter, but as far as making people melancholy
and all I don't know. I don't know anyway. Gerard,
writing the fifteen hundreds, he said that the leaves and
bark of the willows are with the as they used
to call him in Old English, do stay the spinning
of the blood and all of the fluxes of the
blood whatsoever in man or woman. And that means same

(27:54):
thing from blade diarrheatics as the minstress disorders, or internal bleeding,
as well hes or coughing up blood like from tuberculosis.
He said, if the leaves and bark were boiled in
wine and drunk to stop bleeding, the green boughs with
their leaves may very well be bought and brought into
chambers and set about the bed so those that are

(28:15):
sick for fevers, for they do mightily cool the heat
of the air. And that's actually true. It's especially true
of the weeping willow, which actually pulls water up and
then kind of almost drips it out of its fronds,
its long stems, whatever you want to call them. That
acts as a natural air conditioner. For that reason, my

(28:37):
grandfather planted willow trees at the corners. He had the
long back porch like a breezeway. Well there's also a breezeway.
There's a long covered back porch and a breezeway, and
he put willows at the corners, and then taller trees
over them cast shade and bushes underneath to keep that
air flowing. And it was literally natural air conditioning. You
could go out on one hundred and ten degree day

(28:59):
in eastern North Carolina, sit on that porch and he
had a little he had a little like ornamental pond
and everything, and you were sitting there in natural air
condition It was twenty degrees cooler, which is still pretty
darn hot. But in the evenings it was really nice,
really very nice, except for the mosquitoes, of course, but

(29:22):
the green well, we said that, let's see the gerard
say anything else interesting, No, not really. Colepepper, writing about
one hundred years later, says that it would stop spitting
of blood, the fluxes of blood, and man or woman
to stay vomiting, and that was used as a decoction

(29:43):
drunken wine, bark and leaves. He says it would help
with congestion the lungs lee's bruised with some pepper and
drank helps much. The wind colic or gasiness. Bloating the
lee's bruise and boiled in wine and drank stays the
heat of lust. Again, that cooling property that Saint Hildegard

(30:07):
talked about, he said it quite extinguishes it. If being
long used, the seed is also some effect. I don't
know why that would be true, or if it is,
I don't know. Water that is gathered from willow when
it flowers, the bark being split or slit and a
vessel receiving it is very good for redness or dimness
of sight, or for films that grow over the eyes. Okay,

(30:28):
So that's what Saint Hildegard was talking about, and stays
the well helps you like mucous congestion of the eyes.
The films provokes the urine, oh, I would take from
the face and skin spots and discolorings, and a lot
of those spot creams that are supposed to get rid

(30:51):
of like freckles and dark spots also are aspirin based.
So I mean, these are uses that have been known
for hundreds of years. Let's see is there anything Well,
he gets into talking about Galen and older herbalists. We've
already covered the older ones. We go up to nineteen thirties.

(31:13):
Miss Greeves said of black willow, got those here in
North Carolina. I think they've been introduced, she says, and
as an aphrodisiac product property So quite the opposite of
what Colepepper was just saying. But also sedative in the
bark has been prescribing gonorrhea and to relieve a variant pain.
A liquid extracts prepared and used in a mixture with

(31:34):
other sedatives also used the treatment of nocturnal emissions or
wet dreams as we know them. White willow also introduced
to my area tonic anti periodic, which means to actually
stop Minsi's astringent has been used in dyspepsia, which is
essentially just an upset stomach, burping and heartburn ingestion to

(31:55):
that kind of thing, which is connected with the ability
of the digestive order organs in convalescence from acute disease.
In worms, Yeah, willow has been used to help with
intestinal parasites of worms in chronic diarrhea and dysenterior It
is tonic, a stringent, and a combination renders it very useful.
Turned to the Irish tradition, John keyho said, a coction

(32:18):
of the and he doesn't specify which will He says,
a acctua of the les bark, seed and flour and
wine taking internally stops vomiting, spitting of blood, excessive menstrel
flow and all over flows of the blood. The ashes
of the bark mixed with vinegar causes warts to fall off,
ensues hard skin. Yes. Also another common remedy you might
find it at the drug store to this day is

(32:42):
or in old home remedies, put aspirin on a wart it,
he says, as it says, He says, it causes them
to fall off. I don't know how well that works,
but when I worked in the drug store there was
at least one aspirin based wart cure, and the old
folks still recommended that, he said. The sap that flows

(33:04):
in the bark is good for information of the eyes. Now,
Brother Aloysius gives a lot of uses. He says, decoctions
is very bitter and astringent and can be fruitfully used
for the treatment of fever. It is indeed one of
the very best feed refuse or fever reducing remedies, especially

(33:25):
for inmate intermittent fever like you would have with malaria.
It is also highly recommended for blood spitting and is
a very potent tonic good most efficacious remedy for heavy bleeding,
chronic diarrhea, lukeray, excessive mucus, stomach cramps, nervous complaints, spleen
and liver disorders, foul or mucous stomach. And he talks

(33:48):
about how to make it a coction, how to make
a powder you could use Father koons. Will said. Old
people whose legs are weak because of old age or
because of an illness could strengthen their legs. Frequent foot
bass and boiled willow bark. The basket weavers sell the
bark cheaply. Yeah, Aspirin can be used topically in foot

(34:11):
bass or like in you know, asper cream, or really
good for arthritis and muscle soreness. See I'm trying to
get I've got so much on Willow. I'm not going
to keep going on this. I mean Resources of Southern
Fields and Forests has a swamp. Willow said it could

(34:31):
be used as a substitute for quinine. It was in malaria.
While King's American Dispensatory says willow bark is tonic anti
periodic as stringent bitter has been given an intermittence dyspepsia
connected with debility, passive hemorrhage, chronic mucus discharges, convalescents from
acute diseases, and in worms. Although occasionally substituted for chinchona

(34:54):
or quinine, it is inferior in activity, certainly not as
strong as quinine in chronic diarrhea and dysentery. The tonic
of stringent combination of the willow renders it very eligible.
So there you go. Also applied to skin, altars and
other issues. Modern use plants for a future says of
black willow. The bark is anodyne, anti inflammatory, anti periodic, antiseptic,

(35:20):
a stringe of diuretic, diuretic, diaphorretic, diuretic, febrifuge, hypnotic, sedative,
and tonic. I don't know about all that. I have
never had a hypnotic that means help makes you sleep.
Willow bark does not really affect me that way, but
definitely good for digestion, good for flooring, fevers, goods, its
stringent and inflammatory, et cetera. It has been used in

(35:43):
the treatment of goanrhea, of variant pains and nocturnal emissions.
The bark of this species is used interchangeable interchange me
with s alba or white willow. It is taken internally
in the treatment of rheumatism, arthritis, gout, inflammatory stages of
autoimmune diseases, diarrhea, dysentery, feverish illnesses, nealgia, and headache. The
bark can be used as a poultice un cuts, wound, sprains, bruises, swelling,

(36:06):
et cetera, and the bark is removed in the summer
and dried for the later use. The leaves are used
internally for the treatment of minor feverish illnesses and colic.
Leaves can be harvested throughout the growing season and gets
fresh for dried. The fresh bark contains salacin, which decomposes
into salicilic acid, which is essential aspirin, the natural form

(36:27):
of aspirin. Let's see. Oh, it's also a good in
spring tonics. I think we've covered just about everything. I've
got quite a bit more here in all honesty. We
see if there's anything I have not mentioned. Oh good.
Peterson Field Guide says it's good using poultices for poison

(36:48):
ivy rash. Yeah, that's when we had not mentioned. Also,
of course, aspirin helps with heart disease, heart attacks. Botany
and Day says good for headaches, fevers, hay fever, and
a rouge. Inflammation of the joints et cetera. Let's see, okay,

(37:09):
physicians desk reference. Let's adjust myself in my chair here
and now the physicians desk reference for herbal medicine says
the efficacy of the drug is mainly due to the
proportion of sallacen present, then again to the chemistry of it.
And yeah, we've covered actually all this, but it was
approved by commission e that was I think a European

(37:31):
herbal commission for teaching doctors how to use herbs. Salasin
is useful in diseases accompanied by fever, rheumatic elements, headache,
pain caused by inflammation, used for toothache, gout, gastro intestine,
dissaur's diary, and wound healing. Of course they give the

(37:52):
contraindications which willard bark because of salacein. If you happen
to be sensitive to salicylates or have rice and you
should not use aspirin or willow bark at all. It
can also of course thin the blood, so if you
have hemothilia or if you're on a blood filled with
thinnery you want to stay away from that can irritate
gastric ulcers. Yeah, and of course they get a warning

(38:17):
about using it during pregnancy. There's actually salid aspirin itself.
The chemical salson has been associated with certain rashes and infants.
So anyway, that's usually why a doctor would not recommend
aspirin during pregnancy. Of course, a tea made from willow
is going to be probably a lot safer than aspirin.

(38:40):
But you know me, I don't recommend any herbs during pregnancy.
I say, if you need to know about herbs during pregnancy,
consult someone who is an expert in herbs during pregnancy
and women's issues. And that's about it, y'all. Will you
probably find one growing just about anywhere if not want
to grow in in your yard. They're super easy to start.

(39:03):
You can literally just take a cutting and stick it
to the ground usually and it's gonna take off. Do
be careful with weeping willow if you have a if
you're in a drought prone area and you have a
natural pond, which may get low in the summer because
it draws up so much moisture from the ground and
then drips it back out through the fond fronds. I'm

(39:24):
trying to say, I guess they're fronds, they're actually wands.
I think is the technical word for a willow stem.
It can actually empty your pond one or two willow trees.
You could have a nice big pond. If you have
drought conditions in the summer, it could be bone dry
thanks to the willow trees. Because it's gonna they're gonna
pull the moisture up, they're gonna drip it out in

(39:45):
a love it's gonna evaporate. So that is one thing
to keep in mind. But if you are in an
area with plenty of rainfall, they're just wonderful trees and
you can make gorgeous baskets out of them, so many things.
Some people make sculptures out of willow ones. It's very
popular in England. Various decorations and reeves and all kinds

(40:09):
of stuff, and great herbal medicine, really fantastic herbal medicine.
And if you live in the hot human South, natural
air conditioning. So I really am very very fond of willows.
One of my favorite of all plants. And I never
did remember that other tree that's so closely related to

(40:34):
it's it's populous. It is, it's a popular it's the
one that make balm with gilead out of if I'm
not mistaken, it has very similar properties to willow. I'm
not sure that it's closely related, but has very similar
properties to willow. Anyway, y'all have a great week. Please
buy my books if you can, you know, but if

(40:55):
you can't, please share my work and always be sure
subscribe to the newsletter. You get so much free content
out of there, and I mean, I'd love to just
grow it so you know it. I want more people
to know what I know. You know, it's like I said,
it's like a mission for me. And some you know,

(41:16):
some things I talk about can literally save your life.
Other things I talk about are helpful, can help out
or keep you healthy, or may become an interesting hobby
or just you know, you can get into foraging or
basket weaving or you know whatever. But the herbal medicine,

(41:36):
you know, it can really be a life saver. And
I want everybody to know it. And that's why I
put out so much free content. But of course, if
you can support my work in any way, I appreciate
it because I got to put food on the table
and pay the bills just like everybody else, and that
this is what I do for a living. I'm a
full time herbalist and writer. So y'all have a going

(41:57):
and I'll talk to you next week.

Speaker 3 (42:00):
The information this podcast is not intended to diagnose or
treat any disease or condition. Nothing I say or write
has been evaluated or approved by the FDA.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
I'm not a doctor.

Speaker 3 (42:11):
The US government does not recognize the practice of verbal medicine,
and there is no governing body regulating herblens. Therefore, I'm
really just a guy who stays herbs. I'm not offering
any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write
or say is accurate or true. I can tell you
what Earth's been traditionally used for I can tell you
my own experience, and if I believe in herb has
helped me, I cannot nor would I tell you to

(42:33):
do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends
you are treating yourself, you take full responsibility for your health.
Humans are individuals, and no two are identical. What works
for me may not work for you. You may have
an allergy of sensitivity and underlying condition that no one
else even shares and you don't even know about. Be
careful with your health by continuing to listen to my

(42:55):
podcast or read my blog. You read it, be responsible
for yourself, your own research, to make her own choices,
and not

Speaker 2 (43:01):
To blame me for anything ever

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Show 259: Glasswort and Willow

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