Medicinal Trees: Fagus, Beech

Eight varieties of Fagus are used in herbal medicine, but another nine members of the Beech family are also used, falling under the closely related Nothofagus. Fagus crenata - Japanese Beech, Fagus grandifolia - American Beech, Fagus japonica - Japanese Beech, Fagus longipetiolata, Fagus lucida, Fagus orientalis - Oriental Beech, Fagus sylvatica, NothoFagus betuloides, NothoFagus cunninghamii - Myrtle Beech, NothoFagus fusca - Red Beech, NothoFagus menziesii - Silver Beech, NothoFagus obliqua – Robl, NothoFagus procera – Rauli, Notho, NothoFagus solanderi - Black Beech, Nothofagus solanderi cliffortioides - Mountain Beech

Only two Beeches are native to my region, Fagus grandifolia var. caroliniana (American Beech), Fagus grandifolia var. grandifolia (American Beech)

That we have only two native Beeches certainly does not mean that we have few Beech trees. Quite the contrary! In fact, just two peaks over from where I live now is Beech Mountain, NC. Beech mountain, known for ski slopes and The Land Of Oz amusement park (that closed in the 1980s), was also home to the folks who taught me herbs and Appalachian folktales. That was the “back side of Beech Mountain”, away from the tourists and summer homes, down ten miles of dirt road. The Hicks family lived in a centuries old cabin, with no indoor plumbing, one electric light, a wood stove, a spring house, a view of Tennessee on clear, stary nights… far away from noise or most any trace of modernity. Peace and quiet, nature and the old ways.

Dioscorides included Beech in de Materia Medica:

… and the bark of the root of prinus boiled in water until it becomes tender and rotten and applied for a whole night dyes the hair black. It is first made clean with Cimolian earth. The leaves of all of them bruised and pounded into small pieces help oedema, and strengthen feeble parts.

Saint Hildegard von Bingen included a lengthy entry on Beech in her Physica, written around 1100:

The beech tree has correct balance, with equal heat and cold, both of which are good. It demotes discipline. When the leaves of the beech begin to come out, but do not yet fully show, go to this tree and take a branch of it in your left hand, say, “I cut your natural vigor from you, because you correct all a person’s humors which have been turned the wrong path by the yellow bule, by the living Word, which makes a person without contrition.” Hold the branch in your left hand while you say these words. Then cut the branch off with a steel knife. Save that branch for a year and repeat this each year. If anyone in that year has jaundice, cut a small piece from that branch. Place it in a metallic jar, and pour over it a moderate amount of wine. Whenever you pour the wine over these bits, say these words, “ By the holy spark of thy holy incarnation, by which God became human, draw from this person (Name) the sickness of jaundice. “ Then heat the wine, with the bits of wood which you had cut off, in a small crucible. For three day, give it as a warm drink to the one with jaundice. He will be cured unless God forbids it

If someone has ague, take some of the fruit of the beech tree when it forsts comes out and mix it with pure spring water. Say these words, “By the holy spark of the holy incarnation by which God became human, you ague, and you fevers, forsake this person, (Name) with your heat and cold. Then give him this water to drink. Offer it for five days, and he will be quickly healed from the quartan fevers, unless God does not wish to free him.

Also, when the root of the beech tree appears above the earth, take away its outer bark. Take as much as you can cut with one incision and say, By the first vision, when God saw a human being at the root of Mamre, break the waves of this person’s poison, without his death.” Again, cut as much as you can from the second incision and say the same words. In a similar way, cut a third incision in the root, so that you cut the root three times, lest it run short during the year. During the year, whenever anyone has freislich on his body, cut off a bit from one of these cuttings of wood, place it in a metallic jar, and pour over it pure spring water, saying these words each time, “ By the first vision, when God was baptized in the Jordan, through this poison, without the death of the person (Name), carry from him every snare of disease, so that he be with pure life, just as Jesus was given.” Give him this water to drink, while fasting, for three days. On each day offer it to him to drink in this way. He will be freed from the freislich, unless God prohibits it.

Anyone who prepares and eats a puree from the leaves of the beech, when they are new and fresh, will not be harmed by it. If someone eats its fruit, he will not be harmed, but will become fat.

To put it mildly, Saint Hildegard’s remedies may seem esoteric to modern readers. It must be mentioned though, that she is not only a canonized saint, but a Doctor of the Church. Saint Hildegard received her knowledge of herbs and healing from “The voice of the living Light” and angelic visions. She was a mystic who was blessed with something akin to the Wisdom of Solomon, having little formal education due to extreme illness in her youth. She reluctantly shared her visions through several books, art and the largest body recorded religious music from the Middle Ages. She was celebrated by the Pope and bishops of her day, and was encouraged to travel as much as possible, preaching and teaching in Catholic churches throughout central Europe. Popularly, she was known as the “Sybil of the Rhine” and all who were able, including the crowned heads of Europe, flocked to her Abbey, to gain insight from her wisdom, insight and God-given knowledge.

Gerard, writing in 1597 says:

The leaves of Beech do cool: the kernel of the nut is somewhat moist.

A. The leaves of Beech are very profitably applied unto hot swellings, blisters, and excoriations; and being chewed they are good for chapped lips, and pain of the gums.

B. The kernels or mast within are reported to ease the pain of the kidneys proceeding of the stone, if they be eaten, and to cause the gravel and sand the easier to come forth. With these, mice and squirrels are greatly delighted, who do mightily increase by feeding thereon: swine also be fattened herewith, and certain other beasts also. Deer do feed thereon very greedily: they be likewise pleasant to thrushes and pigeons.

C. Petrus Crescentius writeth, That the ashes of the wood is good to make glass with.

D. The water that is found in the hollowness of Beeches cureth the naughty scurf, tetters, and scabs of men, horses, kine, and sheep, if they be wasled therewith.

Culpepper wrote of Beech, “It is a plant of Saturn, and therefore performs his qualities and proportion in these operations. The leaves of the beech-tree are cooling and binding, and therefore good to be applied to hot swellings to discuss them; the nuts do much nourish such beasts as feed thereon. The water that is found in the hollow places of decaying beeches will cure both man and beast of any scurf, scab, or running tetters, if they be washed therewith; you may boil the leaves into a poultice, or make an ointment of them when time of year serves.”

Mrs. Grieves writes only of Beech, “The tar is stimulating and antiseptic, used internally as a stimulating expectorant in chronic bronchitis, or externally as an application in various skin diseases.”

Fr. Johannes Künzle wrote of Beech in his Spring Cure:

There are many people who, without being bedridden, are almost always unwell, they have no appetite and dislike the best St. Gallen sausages, are clogged up like the gates of hell, they feel pressure on their chests and in their stomachs and there is heat and pain in the head. They can not sleep well and when they do sleep then restlessly and they have bad dreams; they run after all doctors and are a nuisance to them, write to all quacks as far as to London and New York, swing like party leaders after an election victory, and are like complaining organs with 365 stops, often with an accompaniment of an orchestra.

If such people have the serious will to get well, they should take one of the so-called spring cures for 8-14 days.

Unripe Blackberries

You send Tony or Jacob into the nearest bushes with a basket and a knife. There he cuts many shoots from all types of thorny bushes: dog rose (Rosa cantina), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), hawthorn (Crataegus), raspberry (rubus idaeus), and blackberry (rubus fruticosus) and shoots from fir trees, beeches (fagus), hazel trees, cherry trees, oaks, larches, ash trees, poplars. Furthermore you can also take shoots from currants, from gooseberries, from fruit trees.

A handful of this mixture is then thrown into a pan, one to two liters of water are poured in, and the mixture is heated until it simmers. The sick person should drink one to two liters of this liquid daily with sugar. This tea cleanses the whole body. It has already turned very sick people into healthy and flourishing ones again. However, if the effect is to be lasting, this cure must be continued for eight days. The lost appetite returns, the headache and pressure in the abdomen are gone, the pale color vanishes, the grave digger can put his shovel back in his shed. And this poor creature, previously so pale and shaky, can again rule in the kitchen with power and dignity.

If she takes five or seven good fir tree twigs baths, she is fresh and sunny again like a bride! It is known that mustard has extracting qualities, that is why mustard plasters are often used for painful rheumatic areas. The well-known, expensive American plasters contain extracting substances.

Jolanta WIttib writes of Beech:

I admire these mighty trees. They are so majestic, and they have very cute offsprings. Have you ever seen the young shoots of a beech? No? Look out for these. You will definitely enjoy the look of them. And have you ever eaten the nuts of a beech? My grandson introduced me to these. We do not have beeches in the Alps, but he lives next to huge beech forests. In autumn the paths are strewn with burrs - those tiny boxes with beech nuts. My grandson showed me how to open them with scissors. Just cutting the pointed upper part and then peeling the seed.

Mmmmm delicious!

A beech gives not only nuts. I have read that one huge beech tree releases per hour enough oxygen for 50 people to breath during that hour. We do need such trees!

Herbal Remedies of the Lumbee Indians tells us:

The Lumbee made Beech tea from the bark taken from the trunk. This tea was drunk to treat weak back and back aches. The same liquid was mixed with hog lard to form a slave rubbed on the affected area to treat bone rheumatism. The salve was also used to nurse pain from a sprain or broken bone. … The Rappahannock soaked beech bark in salt water to produce a substance to be rubbed on the skin to treat poison ivy. The Iroquois League… used beech nut oil mixed with bear grease as a hair treatment and mosquito repellant.

Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests states:

The bark is astringent, and has been used, according to Dr. Farnham, in intermittent fever; but it is not possessed of any decided powers. The fruit pro-duces vertigo and headache in the human species. It is observed, in the Fl. Scotica, that "the fat of hogs, which feed on them, is soft, and will boil away." The seeds yield an oil little inferior to olive oil, and fit, also, for burning. The pulp remaining after expression may be converted into flour, similar in taste and color to wheat, but sweeter. A narcotic principle, called fagine, has been found in the husks. The young leaves are sometimes used by the common people as a potherb.

Peterson Field Guides Eastern and Central Medicinal Plants tells us:

American beach, Fagus grandifolia: American Indians chewed nuts as a worm experiment. Bark tea used for long elements. Leaf tea a wash for burns, frostbite, Poison Ivy rash (1 ounce to 1 pint salt water).

Botany In a Day states:

Beech leaves are edible raw or cooked as a pot or early in the spring. The seeds are rich in oil and high in protein, edible raw or cooked, but should not be eaten in large quantities due to an alkaloid in the outer covering. The seeds may be dried and ground into a flour. The roasted seed is used as a coffee substitute. The sprouted seeds are also edible and reportedly delicious. Oil from the seeds may be used in cooking and salad dressing or in lamps.

This article is an excerpt from The Medicinal Trees of the American South, An Herbalist's Guide: by Judson Carroll

His New book is:

Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast An Herbalist's Guide

Read About Growing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6

His other works include:

Growing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Else

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Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4LYV9R

The Encyclopedia of Bitter Medicinal Herbs:

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Available for purchase on Amazon: 

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Christian Medicine, History and Practice:

https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/01/christian-herbal-medicine-history-and.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7RNCTB

Herbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People

southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/10/herbal-medicine-for-preppers.html

Also available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMWXL25

Look Up: The Medicinal Trees of the American South, An Herbalist's Guide

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The Herbs and Weeds of Fr. Johannes Künzle:

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Author: Judson Carroll. Judson Carroll is an Herbalist from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

His weekly articles may be read at judsoncarroll.com

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Disclaimer

The information on this site is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing on this site has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I am not a doctor. The US government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and their is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm just a guy who studies herbs. I am not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write is accurate or true! I can tell you what herbs have "traditionally been used for." I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb helped me. I cannot, nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use any herb I, or anyone else, mentions 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, sensitivity or underlying condition that no one else shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to read my blog you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices and not to blame me for anything, ever.