Only one variety is native to my region, and it is the legendary Myrica gale (Sweetgale). I say legendary, because this was one of the herbs used to brew the highly intoxicating… and somewhat hallucinogenic beer of ancient Europe before hops came into common use. These beers were used for rivalry and to enhance battle fervor, and were said to cause severe hangovers. Both religious and civil authorities encouraged the use of sedative hops in place of this beer, called “guit”, which was known to cause riots and violent rampages.. Then the Europeans invented World Wars, soccer and Motorhead… For my younger readers, Motorhead was a band whose debut album in 1977 was the greatest heavy metal rock album of all time, which may engender similar states of mind as gruit. Some sources say that Myrica pensylvanica (also called Myrica carolinensis) grows in North Carolina… I have not yet been able to confirm this, but it is likely the case.
Dioscorides wrote of Myrica:
Myrica or myrris is a well-known tree, growing in marshy grounds and standing waters, with a fruit as a flower, of a mossy consistency. Some of it is planted in gardens in Egypt — in other things like the wild, but it bears fruit like a gall [excrescence on oak trees], unequally astringent to the taste, and used instead of galls in medicines for the mouth, eyes and spitting of blood. It is given in drink to women troubled with colic, those who have a flowing-forth from the vulva or sickness of the head, and for those bitten by phalangii [harvest spiders]. Applied as a poultice it stops oedema. The bark does the same things, as well as the fruit. A decoction of the leaves (taken as a drink with wine) melts the spleen, and gargled in the mouth it helps toothache. For hip baths it is good for women troubled with a discharge of fluids from the vulva, and a heated rub of it is good for those with lice and nits. Ash from the wood (applied) stops flows from the uterus. There are some who make cups from the wood which they use for those troubled with spleen (as though the drink given them from such cups should do them good).
The Lumbee used Red Myrtle, Myrica cerifera:
Red Myrtle leaves were used for improving the flavor of other herbs. Many healers suggested the uses of Double Tansy to treat problems related to the digestive system (mouth, esophagus and stomach). To treat itching, some Lumbee would bathe in a leaf infusion. Stomach ulcers were treated by chewing a piece of the root recently taken from the ground. Ms. Lucy Mae Locklear, a Lumbee elder, boiled the leaves from this tree, which she called Merker tree, into a tea to treat whooping cough. The Choctaw would use Red Myrtle leaves and stems in an infusion to nurse a fever and sore throat.
Towards and American Materia Medica tells us:
The Myrica cerifera, or Candle-berry Myrtle, deserves to be mentioned in this place. This is a common shrub in many of the maritime parts of the United- States, as in New-Jersey, Delaware, etc. This is, unquestionably, a very powerful astringent, and as such has been employed by the country-practitioners of the United- States. A decoction of the bark of the root is employed, sometimes alone, and sometimes in combination with the bark of the root of Persimmon, or with the bark of the Black - Alder, which I am afterwards to mention. The simple or combined decoction of the Myrica has been used, with much advantage, in dropsical affections succeeding
to intermittents, particularly in the peninsula of Delaware, where dropsies, in various shapes, are, perhaps, more common than in any other part of North America, within the same latitudes. The root of the Myrica has likewise been found useful in the treatment of haemorrhages from the uterus, &.c. It was remarked by an old physician, who had much experience in the use of this
vegetable, that it often acted as a gentle purgative.
Several varieties of the Myrica cerifera are described by the botanists. That of which I have been
speaking is distinguished by the circumstances of its having broader leaves, and larger berries, than the others. It is the variety marked £ and named media, in the Flora Bore all- Americana of Michaux. I cannot, however, assert, that as an astringent, this is to be preferred to the other varieties.
The Myrica Gale, called Sweet- Willow, or Dutch Myrtle, and also American Bog-Gale, is likewise a native of the United-States. But this, to which useful qualities are ascribed, by Linnaeus and other writers, seems less worthy of our notice than the above-mentioned
species.
In the Thomsonian System of Medicine:
BAYBERRY. Myrica Cerifera.
This is a species of the myrtle, from which wax is obtained from the berries, and grows common in many parts of this country. It is a shrub growing from two to four feet high, and is easily known by the berries which it produces annually, containing wax in abundance. These grow on the branches close to them similar to the juniper. The leaves are of a deep green. The bark of the roots is what is used for medicine, and should be collected in the spring, before it puts forth its leaves, or in the fall, after done growing, as then the sap is in the roots; this should be attended to in gathering all kinds of medicinal roots; but those things that the tops are used should be collected in the summer when nearly full grown, as then the sap is on the top. The roots should be dug and cleaned from the dirt, and pounded with a mallet or club, when the bark is easily separated from the stalk, and may be obtained with little trouble. It should be dried in a chamber or loft, where it is not exposed to the weather; and, when perfectly dry, should be ground or pounded to a fine powder. It is an excellent medicine, either taken by itself or compounded with other articles ; and is the best thing for canker of any article to be found.
In scrofulous diarrhoea and chronic cholera infantum and goitre it is one of the best agents. Its influence on the uterus is very positive. In prolapsus uteri it is splendid, and in parturition it cannot be well excelled. It induces better contractions and when given near the end of the confinement it will anticipate flooding, and should there be excessive lochia it will assist in stopping the excess. Its influence is also good in excessive menstruation or hemorrhages from other parts of the body and in female weakness.
In hot infusion it gradually arouses the circulation and favors an outward flow of blood. A good free perspiration will follow, which will be more abundant if Zingiber be added. When the stomach is very foul, it will frequently operate as an emetic.
In connection with lobelia it is used in producing emesis, which will be very valuable in the treatment of the conditions found in mercurial cachexia, scrofula and secondary syphilis. For emetic purposes it should be given with lobelia in hot infusion and is excellent to rid the system of impurities.
The dose of the Fluid Ext. or Tincture is from one-half to one drachm.
Resources of The Southern Fields and Forests tells us:
Myrica Carolinensis. Grows in dry soils; Eichland; collected in St. John's; Newbern.
Griffith's Med. Bot. 583. Supposed to possess similar properties with the above. It can scarcely be distinguished from the others.
Myrica Cerifera (£ay6erry).— Astringent and stimulant, and in large doses, is apt to occasion einesis. Successfully employed in scrofula, jaundice, diarrhea, dysentery, and other diseases where an astringent stimulant is indicated. Beneficial as a gargle in sore moulh and throat.
Fluid Extract — Dose: 1 to 2 drams
Myricin — Dose: 2 to 1(1 graaiis.
Myrica (Gale (Sweet Gale). — Astringent, stimulant. Dram doscs are apt to produce emesis. It possesses properties similar to those of bayberry.
Fluid Extract — Dose: J to 1 dram.
King’s Medical Dispensatory of 1898 states:
This plant is found in dry woods, or in open fields, from Canada to Florida. The bark of the root is the preferred part; boiling water extracts its astringent and alcohol its stimulating principles.
BAYBERRY BARK.—As met with in commerce, the bark is in curved or quilled pieces, from 1 to 6 or 7 inches long, covered with a thin, grayish, mottled epidermis, with slight transverse fissures, beneath which the true bark is of a dull reddish-brown color, rugged, darker internally, breaking rapidly with a short fracture, and giving, when pulverized, a light brown powder, of a pungent, peculiar, spicy odor, a bitter taste succeeded by astringency, acridity, and a stinging sensation which gradually extends to the fauces, where it leaves an unpleasant feeling and a sense of constriction; it is powerfully sternutatory, excites cough, and forms a dense froth when briskly agitated with water. Water takes up its active properties; diluted alcohol is its best menstruum. The root should be collected late in the fall, cleansed from dirt and foreign substances, and then, while fresh, pounded with a hammer or club to separate the bark, which should be thoroughly dried without exposure to a wet or moist atmosphere, then pulverized, and kept in darkened and well-closed vessels.
BAYBERRY-TALLOW, or MYRTLE WAX (Bayberry wax.)—This substance is yielded by the berries and is obtained by boiling them in water, upon the top of which it floats, and from which it is removed when it has become cold and hardened; it is a concrete oil or fatty substance of a pale-green color, with a tendency to dirty gray, of moderate hardness and consistence, having the tenacity of beeswax, but more brittle and not so unctuous to the touch, of a faintly balsamic and pleasant odor which is increased by burning it, and of an astringent, bitterish taste. It fuses at a temperature of from 47° to 49° C. (116.6° to 120.2° F.) (Moore), burns with a clear, white flame, producing little smoke, and has the specific gravity 1.004 to 1.006. Water does not act upon it; boiling alcohol dissolves about four-fifths of its weight, but deposits it again upon cooling; but ether also dissolves it, and on cooling deposits it in crystalline plates like spermaceti; the ether becomes green, leaving the wax nearly white; oil of turpentine, aided by heat, dissolves it sparingly; alkalies and acids act upon it nearly as upon beeswax. Sulphuric acid, assisted by heat, dissolves about one-twelfth of its weight, and converts it into a thick, dark-brown mass. A bushel of bayberries will yield about 4 pounds of the wax.
Chemical Composition.—According to George M. Hambright (1863), bayberry bark contains albumen, tannic and gallic acids, starch, gum, red coloring matter, traces of oil, an acrid resin soluble in alcohol or ether, an astringent resin soluble in alcohol, insoluble in ether; myricinic acid, etc. The latter substance is granular, and when shaken with water, produces a bulky froth, hence is analogous to saponin. It is persistently acrid in taste. Ammonia, added to its aqueous solution produces a rapid change of colors from deep green to red, and finally to yellow (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1863, p. 193). The fruit yielded (Dana) solid fat, 32 per cent; starch, 45 per cent; and resin, 5 per cent. According to G. E. Moore (1852), bayberry-tallow is composed of palmitin, 1 part, and palmitic acid, 4 parts, with a little lauric acid (laurin). A more recent analysis by G. Schneider (1890) shows this wax to be chiefly composed of palmitin (70 per cent), myristin (8 per cent), and lauric acid (4.7 per cent), mostly in the free state (see G. M. Beringer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1894, p. 221).
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Bayberry bark is astringent and stimulant, and as such is valuable in debilitated conditions of the mucous membranes; in drachm doses, it is apt to occasion emesis. It was largely employed by the followers of Samuel Thomson, in catarrhal states of the alimentary tract. The bark has been successfully employed in scrofula, jaundice, diarrhoea, dysentery, aphthae, and other diseases where astringent stimulants were indicated. Specific myrica, in small doses (2 to 5 drops) will be found a good stimulant to the vegetative system of nerves, aiding the processes of digestion, blood making, and nutrition. In larger doses (5 to 20 drops) it is a decided gastric stimulant. In small doses it has been found advantageous in chronic gastritis, chronic catarrhal diarrhoea, muco-enteritis, and in dysentery having a typhoid character. It is said to restore arrested lochial discharges. Cases calling for myrica show feeble venous action, while the pulse is full and oppressed. It is not adapted to acute disorders of the alimentary tract, as a rule. A weak infusion used as an injection, is an admirable remedy in amenorrhoea and atonic leucorrhoea. Use the specific medicine or tincture internally also. In scarlatina in the latter stages, when the tissues are swollen and enfeebled, it may be used both for its antiseptic and stimulating effects (Locke).
The powdered bark, combined with bloodroot, forms an excellent application to indolent ulcers, and has likewise been employed as a snuff for the cure of some forms of nasal polypus. In the form of poultice, with elm or alone, it is a valuable application to scrofulous tumors or ulcers. The decoction is beneficial as a gargle in sore mouth and throat, and is of service in injection, in leucorrhoea and fistula, and also as a wash for ulcers, tinea capitis, etc. It also forms an excellent gum wash for tender, spongy, and bleeding gums. The leaves are reputed astringent, and useful in scurvy and spasmodic affections. Probably the M. pennsylvanica, M. carolinensis, and M. Gale, possess similar properties. Bayberry or myrtle wax, has been used by Dr. Fahnestock in epidemic dysentery with typhoid symptoms, with considerable success; it possesses mild astringent, with some narcotic properties. It is also used in the form of plaster, as an application to scrofulous and other ulcers. Dose of the powdered bark, from 20 to 30 grains; of the wax, 1 drachm; of the decoction of the leaves or bark, from 2 to 4 fluid ounces; specific myrica, 2 to 20 drops. Bayberry bark was a constituent of "Thomson's Composition Powder or No. 6."
Specific Indications and Uses.—Profuse mucous flows; catarrhal states of the gastro-intestinal tract; atonic diarrhoea, typhoid dysentery, atony of the cutaneous circulation; full oppressed pulse. Locally and internally—sore mouth; spongy, flabby, bleeding gums; sore throat of scarlet fever when enfeebled and swollen.
Related Species.—Myrica Gale, Linné. Sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle, a smaller plant than the bayberry, is found in swampy places in northern portions of Asia and Europe, and in the United States from the Carolinas to Canada. Its subcoriaceous leaves, pubescent-downy beneath, and its fruit are dotted with a yellow resin. The taste of the leaves and twigs is aromatic, bitterish, and astringent; the odor strongly balsamic. A volatile oil, seven-tenths of which is a stearopten, was obtained in small quantity by Ravenhorst (1836) from sweet-gale leaves. It solidifies at 12° C. (53.6° F.).
Myrica ocuba, a widely distributed shrub, in the Brazilian province of Para, furnishes a fruit whose seeds yield Ocuba wax. It has been used in Brazil in the manufacture of cheap candles.
Myrica jalapensis, Kunth.—A solid fat, is obtained from the fruit by boiling it with water, and the bark of the root is astringent and acrid, and in larger doses emetic. The fat is readily saponifiable with alkalies, has probably the same composition as myrtle wax from Myrica cerifera, and is given internally in powder for diarrhoea and jaundice (Prof. J. M. Maisch, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1885, p. 339).
Jethro Kloss wrote:
BAYBERRY (Myrica cerifera)
Common Names: Bayberry bush, American bayberry, American vegetable tallow tree, bayberry wax tree, myrtle, wax myrtle, candleberry, candleberry myrtle, tallow shrub, American vegetable wax, vegetable tallow.
Part Used: Bark, leaves, flowers.
Medicinal Properties: Astringent, tonic, stimulant.
Leaves — aromatic, stimulant.
Description and Uses: One of the most valuable and useful herbs. The tea is a most excellent gargle for sore throat. It will thoroughly cleanse the throat of all putrid matter. Steep a teaspoonful in a pint of boiling water for thirty minutes, gargle thoroughly until the throat is clear, then drink a pint of lukewarm tea to thoroughly cleanse the stomach. If it does
not come up easily, tickle the back of the throat. This restores the mucous secretions to normal activity.
For chills make tea as given in the preceding paragraph, adding a pinch of cayenne, and take a half cup warm every hour. This is very effective.
Bayberry is excellent as an emetic after narcotic poisoning of any kind. It is good to follow the bayberry with an emetic, such as lobelia.
Bayberry is also valuable when taken in the usual manner for all kinds of hemorrhages, whether from the stomach, lungs, or excessive menstruation, and when combined with capsicum it is an unfailing remedy for this. Very good in leukorrhea. Has an excellent general effect on the female
organs, also has an excellent influence on the uterus during pregnancy, and makes a good douche. Excellent results will be obtained from its use in goitre. In diarrhea and dysentery,
use the tea as an enema.
For gangrenous sores, boils, or carbuncles, use as a wash and poultice, or apply the powdered bayberry to the infection. The tea is an excellent wash for spongy and bleeding gums.
The tea taken internally is useful in jaundice, scrofula, and canker sores in the throat and mouth. The tea taken warm promotes perspiration, improves the whole circulation and tones up the tissues. Taken in combination with yarrow, catnip, sage, or peppermint, it is unexcelled for colds.
An excellent formula made with bayberry and used by the famous Dominion Herbal College for colds, fevers, flu, colic, cramps, and pains in the stomach, is as follows:
bayberry 4 ounces
ginger 2 ounces
white pine 1 ounce
cloves 1 dram
capsicum 1 dram
This is prepared by mixing the herbs (in powdered form) and passing them through a fine sieve several times. Use one teaspoonful, more or less as the case may require, in a cup of hot water. Allow the herbs to stand so they will settle, then drink the clear liquid, leaving the settlings. Anyone knowing the benefit of this wonderful composition would not be without it. This formula may now be available in capsule form. Take one to three capsules daily. Bayberry is high in tannin content. Taking some milk with the herb will tend to counteract the effect of the tannin.
Bradford Angier wrote:
The base of the bark, best secured during the later part of autumn, was often gathered by bringing in the entire root. Washing and scrubbing it diligently, and then, while still fresh, separating the bark with a hammer or by pounding and grinding the whole plant between two stones. Others went to the trouble of stripping small shreds from the still growing roots. The bark, in any event, was kept in a dry place and, when dehydrated, pulverized. The resulting powder was thoroughly dried and kept in a dark place in a sealed jar or bottle.
The powdered bark was then steeped or boiled - the former process by stirring a teaspoon of the ingredient into a cup of steaming hot water, allowing this to cool, and then, when it was cold,. Drinking 1 or 2 cupfuls a day - the latter procedure by simmering an ounce of the powdered bark in 2 cups of bubbling water and imbibing it while still warm.
The outstanding characteristic of both infusions was a marked astringency. It was used in cases of diarrhea and dysentery, both as an enema and a drink. In larger doses it was sometimes employed as an emetic. Particularly since it has an agreeably aromatic scent and a spirited medicinal taste, it was favored as a mouthwash, especially when cankers were present and the gums sore or bleeding, and as a gargle for sore throats. The tea was also deemed efficacious in cases of jaundice. It was sometimes used, too, to treat uterine hemorrhaging.
The powder, used as a snuff, was adjudged excellent for catarrh and for clearing nasal congestion. The powder was also used to treat boil, carbuncles and milder sores, being directly applied to the afflicted parts. It was used in poultices for cuts and bruises, troublesome scratches and insect bited.
The leaves and stems of the bay were boiled in water and drunk both to allay fever and, in stronger doses, to eliminate worms in the intestinal tract. The leaves, with their vitamin C, cured and prevented scurvy. The berries were used to relieve flatulence and to ease cold symptoms.
Plants for A Future states:
Medicinal use of Bog Myrtle: The leaves are abortifacient, aromatic, astringent, emmenagogue and stomachic. The leaves are normally used as a tea, but they do contain a poisonous aromatic oil, so some caution is advised in their use.
Medicinal use of Northern Bayberry: The root bark is astringent and emetic in large doses. A tea made from the leaves is used in the treatment of fevers and externally as a wash for itchy skin.
Peterson Field Guides Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants tells us:
Myrica cerifera (Wax myrtle): Candle wax produced from fruits. Root bark formerly used in tea as astringent and emetic for chronic gastritis, diarrhea, dysentery, leukorrhea, “catarrhal states of alimentary tracts” jaundice, scrofula and indolent (hard to heal) ulcers. Leaf tea was used for fevers, externally as a wash for itching. Powdered root bark was an ingredient in “composition powder,” once a widely used home remedy for colds and chills. Warning: Wax is irritating. Constituents of wax are reportedly carcinogenic.
Myrica gale (Sweet Gale): Similar uses to those of M. cereifera. Branch tea was once used as a diuretic for gonorrhea. Warning: Essential oil reportedly toxic; inhibits growth of various bacteria.
Myrica pensylvanica (Bayberry). Same as use for M. cerifera. Micmac used leaf snuff for headaches; leaf tea as stimulant; poulticed root bark for inflammation. Warning: Wax is considered toxic.
The PDR for Herbal Medicine states of Myrica cerifera:
The active compounds have diaphoretic, stimulant and astringent effects.
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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.
