Hibiscus syriacus, Rose of Sharon
Rose of Sharon is really more of a bush or shrub. It is a beautiful, old fashioned landscaping plant. Its scent and sight brings back childhood memories of my grandparent’s and great grandparent’s farms. This shrub is in the mallow family and is very useful.
Plants for A Future States;
Medicinal use of Rose of Sharon: The leaves are diuretic, expectorant and stomachic. A decoction of the flowers is diuretic, ophthalmic and stomachic. It is also used in the treatment of itch and other skin diseases, dizziness and bloody stools accompanied by much gas. The bark contains several medically active constituents, including mucilage, carotenoids, sesquiterpenes and anthocyanidins. A decoction of the root bark is antiphlogistic, demulcent, emollient, febrifuge, haemostatic and vermifuge. It is used in the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, abdominal pain, leucorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea and dermaphytosis.
Ilex, Holly
Twenty-one varieties of Holly have been used medicinally: Ilex aculeolate, Ilex aquifolium, Ilex asprolla, Ilex cassine – Cassine, Ilex coriacea - Large Gallberry, Ilex cornuta - Horned Holly, Ilex crenata - Japanese Holly, Ilex glabra – Inkberry, Ilex chapaensis, Ilex integra - Mochi Tree, Ilex latifolia – Tarajo, Ilex macropoda, Ilex opaca - American Holly, Ilex pedunculosa, Ilex pubescens, Ilex purpurea, Ilex rotunda, Ilex verticillata - Winterberry Synonym: Prinos verticillatus, Ilex vomitoria - Yaupon Holly, Ilex x altaclerensis, Ilex yunnanensis
Eleven Hollys grow in my region: Ilex ambigua (Carolina Holly), Ilex amelanchier (Sarvis Holly), Ilex cassine var. cassine (Dahoon), Ilex collina (Long-stalked Holly), Ilex coriacea (Large Gallberry, Big Gallberry), Ilex decidua (Possumhaw, Deciduous Holly), Ilex longipes (Georgia Holly), Ilex montana (Mountain Holly, Mountain Winterberry), Ilex myrtifolia (Myrtle Dahoon), Ilex opaca var. opaca (American Holly), Ilex vomitoria (Yaupon)
Although rarely used now, Holly was once a much more popular medicinal.
Gerard described the virtues of Holly as:
A. They are good against the colic: for ten or twelve being inwardly taken bring away by the stool thick phlegmatic humours, as we have learned of them who oftentimes made trial thereof,
B. The birdlime which is made of the bark hereof is no less hurtful than that of Mistletoe, for it is marvellous clammy, it glueth up all the entrails, it shutteth and draweth together the guts and passages of the excrements, and by this means it bringeth destruction to man, not by any quality, but by his glueing substance.
C. Holly beaten to powder and drunk is an experimented medicine against all the fluxes of the belly, as the dysentery and such like.
Culpepper wrote of Holly:
For to describe a tree so well known is needless.
Government and virtues. The tree is Saturnine. The berries expel wind, and therefore are held to be profitable in the cholic. The berries have a strong faculty with them; for if you eat a dozen of them in the morning fasting when they are ripe and not dried, they purge the body of gross and clammy phlegm: but if you dry the berries, and beat them into powder, they bind the body, and stop fluxes, bloody-fluxes, and the terms in women. The bark of the tree, and also the leaves, are excellently good, being used in fomentations for broken bones, and such members as are out of joint. Pliny saith, the branches of the tree defend houses from lightning, and men from witchcraft.
Mrs. Grieves includes much on the traditional use of Holly in England in her Modern Herbal:
Holly, the most important of the English evergreens, forming one of the most striking objects in the wintry woodland, with its glossy leaves and clusters of brilliant scarlet berries, is in the general mind closely connected with the festivities of Christmas, having been from very early days in the history of these islands gathered in great quantities for Yuletide decorations, both of the Church and of the home. The old Christmas Carols are full of allusions to Holly:
.......'Christmastide
Comes in like a bride,
With Holly and Ivy clad.'
Christmas decorations are said to be derived from a custom observed by the Romans of sending boughs, accompanied by other gifts, to their friends during the festival of the Saturnalia, a custom the early Christians adopted. In confirmation of this opinion, a subsequent edict of the Church of Bracara has been quoted, forbidding Christians to decorate their houses at Christmas with green boughs at the same time as the pagans, the Saturnalia commencing about a week before Christmas. The origin has also been traced to the Druids, who decorated their huts with evergreens during winter as an abode for the sylvan spirits. In old church calendars we find Christmas Eve marked templa exornantur (churches are decked), and the custom is as deeply rooted in modern times as in either pagan or early Christian days.
An old legend declares that the Holly first sprang up under the footsteps of Christ, when He trod the earth, and its thorny leaves and scarlet berries, like drops of blood, have been thought symbolical of the Saviour's sufferings, for which reason the tree is called 'Christ's Thorn' in the languages of the northern countries of Europe. It is, perhaps, in connexion with these legends that the tree was called the Holy Tree, as it is generally named by our older writers. Turner, for instance, refers to it by this name in his Herbal published in 1568. Other popular names for it are Hulver and Holme, and it is still called Hulver in Norfolk, and Holme in Devon, and Holme Chase in one part of Dartmoor.
Pliny describes the Holly under the name of Aquifolius, needle leaf, and adds that it was the same tree called by Theophrastus Crataegus, but later commentators deny this. Pliny tells us that Holly if planted near a house or farm, repelled poison, and defended it from lightning and witchcraft, that the flowers cause water to freeze, and that the wood, if thrown at any animal, even without touching it, had the property of compelling the animal to return and lie down by it.
Holly leaves were formerly used as a diaphoretic and an infusion of them was given in catarrh, pleurisy and smallpox. They have also been used in intermittent fevers and rheumatism for their febrifugal and tonic properties, and powdered, or taken in infusion or decoction, have been employed with success where Cinchona has failed, their virtue being said to depend on a bitter principle, an alkaloid named Ilicin. The juice of the fresh leaves has been employed with advantage in jaundice.
The berries possess totally different qualities to the leaves, being violently emetic and purgative, a very few occasioning excessive vomiting soon after they are swallowed, though thrushes and blackbirds eat them with impunity. They have been employed in dropsy; also, in powder, as an astringent to check bleeding.
From the bark, stripped from the young shoots and suffered to ferment, birdlime is made. The bark is stripped off about midsummer and steeped in clean water; then boiled till it separates into layers, when the inner green portion is laid up in small heaps till fermentation ensues. After about a fortnight has elapsed, it becomes converted into a sticky, mucilaginous substance, and is pounded into a paste, washed and laid by again to ferment. It is then mixed with some oily matter, goosefat being preferred, and is ready for use. Very little, however, is now made in this country. In the north of England, Holly was formerly so abundant in the Lake District, that birdlime was made from it in large quantities and shipped to the East Indies for destroying insects.
The leaves of Holly have been employed in the Black Forest as a substitute for tea. Paraguay Tea, so extensively used in Brazil, is made from the dried leaves and young shoots of another species of Holly (Ilex Paraguayensis), growing in South America, an instance of the fact that similar properties are often found in more than one species of the same genus.
An Irish Herbal states:
The berries have a hot nature and it is believed that five of them when eaten relieve cholic and act as a purgative.
Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests states:
Holly (Ilex Opaca').—The bark of the holly root chewed, or a tea made with it, yields an excellent bitter demulcent, very useful in coughs, colds, etc. The bitter principle is also tonic. The Holly contains bird-lime.
King's American Dispensatory, 1898 tells us:
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Holly leaves are tonic and febrifuge; said to be very efficient in the treatment of intermittent fevers, in doses of 60 grains of their powder administered 1 or 2 hours previous to the chill. The infusion has also proved beneficial in icterus, pleuritis, catarrh, variola, arthritis, etc. The berries are said to be emeto-cathartic and cholagogue; from 8 to 15 of them will act as a hydragogue. According to Dr. Rousseau, ilicin acts decidedly upon the spleen, liver, and pancreas, producing a sedative effect, and is a cheap substitute for quinine. Its dose is 10 grains in pill form, gradually increased to 30 grains.
Brother Aloysius wrote of Holly:
The white flowers grow in racemes along the stems, they are followed by the red berries, with a strongly purgative effect. The leaves are used medicinally. The decoction of holly, consisting of 1/3rd to ½ cup per 2 cups water, is used for gout, colic and fever. Take 1 cup daily. The fruit also has medicinal use. If 10 to 12 berries are taken, they will have a very purgative effect and are a very powerful remedy for colic. The leaves should be gathered at the beginning of the flowering period.
The Rodale Herb book states, “The leaves and berries are used for medicinal purposes. The leaves are astringent and are used in fevers and rheumatism. The berries are used in dropsy.”
Plants for A Future says of American Holly:
The berries are laxative, emetic and diuretic. They are used in the treatment of children's diarrhoea, colic and indigestion. A tea made from the leaves has been used as a treatment for measles, colds etc. The leaves have also been used externally in the treatment of sore eyes, sore and itchy skin. A tea made from the bark was once used in the treatment of malaria and epilepsy. It has also been used as a wash for sore eyes and itchy skin.
Of particular interest is the unfortunately named Ilex vomitoria, which fortunately is more commonly called Yaupon Holly. Yaupon received its Latin name due to the practice of some Native American tribes, who made a strong tea of the leaves and drank it ceremonially until they vomited. The leaves of Yaupon contain caffeine. In fact, Yaupon Holly is North America’s only native caffeinated “tea”. Yaupon tea is very similar to imported black tea (Camellia sinensis) and is considered to be of superior flavor by many of its adherents. To many Americans, Yaupon Holly is merely a weedy shrub, and often a nuisance. Were more to know its value as a tea, it might be seen as a valuable crop, especially in light of costs and concerns over chemical use in the growing and production of imported tea.
Ilex cornuta (Horned Holly) has been widely naturalized in my region. Plants for A Future States:
Medicinal use of Horned Holly: The whole plant is abortifacient, carminative, contraceptive, febrifuge and tonic. It particularly strengthens the back and knees. The leaf is made into a tea which is said to be contraceptive if used by women and is also used for termination pregnancies. The stem bark is tonic. The whole plant is used in the treatment of arthritis, recurring fever in pulmonary tuberculosis, tubercular lymph nodes, joint pained and lumbago.
Peterson Field Guides Eastern and Central Medicinal Plants tells us,
American Indians chewed berries for colic, indigestion. Leaf tea for measles, colds, flu, pneumonia; drops for sore eyes; Externally, for sores, itching. Thick syrup of berries formerly used to treat children's diarrhea. Chewing only 10 to 12 berries acts as a strong laxative, emetic, and diuretic. Bark tea once used in malaria and epilepsy. Warning: fruits considered poisonous, induced violent vomiting.
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
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His other works include:
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Author: Judson Carroll. Judson Carroll is an Herbalist from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
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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.
