Medicinal Usage of Trees

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• Herbalists have used horse chestnut leaves as a treatment for fevers and whooping cough. The leaves are also believed to reduce pain and inflammation.

• Historically, Native Americans used Aspen leaves to treat burns, swollen joints and headache, as well as bark for stomach and urinary infections.

• Hornbeam leaves and bark are known for being astringent, a property that helps with tightening tissues and reducing bleeding. Historically, leaves were sometimes harvested in autumn, dried, and ground into a powder to be applied to wounds. The bark can be boiled and bathed in to treat sore muscles.

• Hornbeam can be taken as a liquid essence to remediate mental fatigue and exhaustion, when one finds it difficult to take on the tasks for the day. It is one of the 38 original Bach Flower Remedies developed in the 1930s.

• The Neanderthals used Poplars to relieve toothache. Fossils of jaws and loose teeth have been found packed with material from the tree. They also twisted the fibres to make strings.

• Ginkgo trees have been used in traditional Chinese medicine since at least the 11th century AD to treat ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, and coughing. However, written records suggest it may have been used for medicine as far back as the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD).

• Bay leaves and berries have traditionally been used for their digestive, diuretic, astringent, and stomach-soothing properties.

• An essential oil made from the bay laurel tree (oleum lauri) can be used as a liniment to treat bruises and sprains.

• In medieval times, bay was believed to have magical properties and was controversially thought to induce abortions.

• In traditional medicine across Southern Asia, the Indian Cork Tree is used to treat pulmonary issues. The flowers have a very rich and pleasant scent, and can be made into a tonic to treat asthma, sinusitis, and cholagogue.