Red winter stems of 'Cardinal' (Cornus sericea) is a shrub native to Minnesota with colorful red or yellow winter bark that provides great winter interest.As a landscape plant, redosier dogwood is extremely versatile. Once chewed for a few minutes, the tough fibers at the ends of the twigs split into a fine soft “brush”. Back to Top, As with hard toothbrushes, dogwood chewing sticks can cause receding gums. Widely cultivated as an ornamental tree. Root-bark tea or tincturewidely used for malariaand diarrhea throughout South during the Civil War. Also, the Native American tribe, the Arikaras, mixed bearberry with the dried inner bark of the red dogwood to make sacred tobacco which they smoked in a regulation red pipestone pipe. The parts used for medicinal purposes are the berries. Cornus canadensis is a species of flowering plant in the Cornaceae (dogwood) family. The bark, flowers, berries, and roots of the flowering dogwood also had many medicinal purposes. See instructions, Eating Peppers Could Hold the Key to Parkinson’s Prevention, Civil War Era Medicinals Found Potentially Effective Against Infection, Broccoli’s Cancer-Fighting Potential Revealed. Large pink or white bracts support the true flowers. In the past, Cornus floridawas used to produce ink and scarlet dye. Twigs The Jamaican Dogwood also has limited usefulness as a medicinal treatment for migraines and blood pressure conditions. The bank … Flower petals are used as a garnish in salads, candied, added to fruit salads, punch bowl, soups and flavoring fruit. Twigs used as chewing sticks, forerunners of the toothpick. The bark was simmered in water and used on aching muscles and a bark tea was used to promote sweating and break a fever. Widely used in the South, especially during the Civil War for malarial fevers and chronic diarrhea. Infusion: steep 1 tbsp. People use Jamaican dogwood for anxiety, sleep problems, nerve pain, migraine, and other conditions, but there is … Used for diarrhea. Root-bark tea or tincture widely used for malaria and diarrhea throughout South during the Civil War. An 1830 herbal reported that the Native Americans and captive Africans in Virginia were remarkable for the whiteness of their teeth, and attributed it to the use of Dogwood chewing sticks. It also possesses antibacterial and antiviral properties, which allows it to prevent all sorts of infections from striking — it also helps make a person bounce back from one much more effectively. A tea made from the roots and flowers was also used to treat malaria and diarrhea, although a tincture was sometimes used in its stead. Young shoots were often used for weaving baskets. Dogwood bark is best used as an ointment for ague, malaria (substitute for quinine), fever, pneumonia, colds, and similar complaints. The fruit is a glossy, dry, scarlet berry two celled and two seeds, is inedible and very bitter; October-November. To support our efforts please browse our store (books with medicinal info, etc.). Small bitter red fruits also clustered. The bark and sometimes the roots were used as a substitute for Peruvian bark in treating intermittent fevers and malaria. The Red Osier Dogwood which is native to North America has long been used for medicinal purposes by Native American tribes. WARNING: The fruit of flowering dogwood is poisonous to humans. The use of medicinal plants has been a part of people’s healing traditions worldwide, probably from humans’ earliest beginnings. Antidiarrheal & antimalarial activity Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information Used for diarrhea. Flowers have been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally as tea (or the leaves as a salad) for treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract. Flower Bloom Time: Spring Summer Flower Petals: 4-5 petals/rays Flower Size: < 1 inch Flower Description: Tiny whitish-yellow flowers are borne in flat-topped cymes up to 2.5 inches across. Fresh bark upsets the stomach and bowels. Vitamin C in dogwood, particularly the berries it produces, makes the herb a well-known strengthener of the immune system. copyright 1974. Dogwood trees were once used as a tobacco additive by some Native Americans, as well as a water treatment to stun fish for easier harvesting in Jamaica. Ranges from southern Maine to northern Florida and west to Kansas. It was sometimes used as a substitute when Peruvian bark could not be obtained. The leaves and stems are analgesic, cathartic and febrifuge. Berberis vulgaris: Barberry: Long history of medicinal use, dating back to the Middle Ages particularly among Native Americans. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen.Several species have … Other Facts . The name dogwood is a corruption of dagwood or dagger wood because the daggers (for skewering meat) were made from the wood of some sorts (another tradition also exists that the extract of the barks was used for the treatment of skin … It was also used to counteract the Sorry, you have Javascript Disabled! Also used as a poultice for external sores and ulcers. Latex threads appear at veins when leaves are split apart. Chinese Medicinal Herbs, compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973. Medicinal use of Red Osier Dogwood: Red osier dogwood was widely employed by several native North American Indian tribes who valued it especially for its astringent and tonic bark, using it both internally and externally to treat diarrhoea, fevers, skin problems etc. However, First Nations people used the flowering dogwood seed for medicinal purposes and its fine-grained wood for carving and making tools. Although not as much in modern times, it provided a host of treatments for common ailments in humans. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature. Their beautiful white flowers give off a lacy appearance, though some varieties have pink flowers. Medicine: C. alternifolia was used to make an eye medicine by the Chippewa. Location: The hard, dense wood has been used for golf-club heads, mallets, tool handles, and butcher’s blocks. Fresh and dried flowers are prepared into herbal infusions and used for lowering fever in both children and adults. Twigs used as chewing sticks, forerunners of the toothpick. Making a tea out of dogwood has been found beneficial in bringing down high temperatures, and relieving body chills as well. The pink or white “flowers” (actually flower heads—the petal-like bracts surround a tight cluster of tiny, green flowers) are large and lovely in the late spring. Back to Top. Pacific dogwood is in the Cornaceae (dogwood Family) which contains approximately 12 genera and 100 species distributed primarily through temperate and tropical mountainous regions. It was sometimes used as a substitute when Peruvian bark could not be obtained. Individual flowers are about 3/8 inch wide with 4 petals and four long stamens. Uses Ethnobotanic: Flowering dogwood root bark was used by Native Americans as a fever reducer, skin astringent, an antidiarrheal agent, and as a pain reliever for headaches, sores, and muscle inflammations. … Cornus florida, commonly known as flowering dogwood, is a small deciduous tree that typically grows 15-30’ tall with a low-branching, broadly-pyramidal but somewhat flat-topped habit.It arguably may be the most beautiful of the native American flowering trees. The dried root-bark is antiperiodic, astringent, diaphoretic, mildly stimulant and tonic. Dogwood is a native American, our most showy deciduous tree, growing to 30 feet high; the bark is brown and rough, the leaves opposite, ovate, pointed, and darker green above than beneath. A strong decoction has been used as an eye wash [222, 257]. It is little used in modern herbalism. In other dogwood species, the bark may hold medicinal effects, while berries may be unfit for consumption. The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Flowers April-June, fruits August-November. Medicinal and cultural uses of flowering dogwood Despite being an important food source for wildlife, the seeds of the flowering dogwood are poisonous to humans. It can be used as an accent, specimen or key plant, and in groups and large masses for borders and screens. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992, Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973, American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973. Externally, poulticed onto external ulcers and sores. Take 1/2 cup every 2-3 hours. Back to Top, Dogwood bark is best used as an ointment for ague, malaria (substitute for quinine), fever, pneumonia, colds, and similar complaints. Indigenous people used the bark of Pacific dogwood to make a brown dye and a decoction for stomach trouble. It closely resembles the North American native, flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), but is less vulnerable to disease. Berries soaked in brandy for heart burn and upset stomach. The fruit of our native dogwoods, however, is not edible for people. Without doubt, the most widespread current use of flowering dogwood is in ornamental horticulture. Trunk may be checkered and dark. Ceremony: The leaves of some varieties of Dogwood were used in smoking mixtures including Red Osier dogwood (C. stolonifera) and the C. rugosa type of dogwood. bark in 1 pint water for 30 minutes and strain. Family Found from Maine to Florida and west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas. A tea has been used in the treatment of aches and pains, kidney and lung ailments, coughs, fevers etc. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000, Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. Dogwood was traditionally used to make various types of alcoholic beverages such as liquors and a fruit brandy called raki as well as jams or sweet berry sauces. It is little used in modern herbalism. The root bark is used to make medicine. Back to Top, Tannic and gallic acids, resin, gum, oil, wax, lignin, lime potash and iron It could be added to desserts. Back to Top. An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants, by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992). The bunchberry is in forests across Canada, most parts of the US and in the far north, and it … To see this page as it is meant to appear, please enable your Javascript! The massive amount of content on this website is made available to readers as a gift. Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Twigs chewed for cleaning teeth. Description: First cultivated in 1731, dogwood trees are among some of the prettiest trees used in landscaping today. Leaf, bark, and root contain tannins, the astringent properties of which once served medicinal purposes, including use as a substitute for quinine in the treatment of malaria. It is propagated by seeds and plant cuttings. We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Bark Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments. Indian Uses of Native Plants, by Edith Van Allen Murphey, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1958, print 1990, Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine & Crafts, by Frances Densmore, Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974. People use American dogwood for headaches, wounds, fever, ongoing diarrhea, and other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses. Legends, Myths and Stories | Uses | Formulas or Dosages | Warning | Bibliography. Leaves, 5-12.5cm (2-5in), simple, ovate, non-toothed, and opposite. Back to Top. The bark of the dogwood can also be used to treat external hemorrhoids. It is used to add flavor in wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages. Flowers are in clusters, April-May. By clicking on an affiliate link and placing an order or clicking on an ad, this website receives a small commission which is used to cover hosting and maintenance expenses. The wood of this species is hard and heav… Blooms from May to June. Twigs and branchlets sometimes green or dark purple. Back to Top, Astringent, febrifuge, stimulant, tonic 4. Whatever the mechanism, timed during the temperature lulls, the herb facilitates a ‘better’ fever response, assisting the body in getting well more quickly. Medicinal Uses. The bark of the dogwood flower tree has been used in traditional medicine for quite some time, having been used by soldiers to treat fevers, aches, and pains as well as to cover wounds. Among Indigenous peoples in Canada, the origin of some medicinal applications is chronicled in stories, such as in the Siksika (Blackfoot) narrative of how a woman named Last Calf, who had tuberculosis, gave food to a beaver, who in turn gifted her with a vision of a cure for her ailment. Fruits What is American dogwood good for? The dried root-bark is antiperiodic, astringent, diaphoretic, mildly stimulant and tonic [4, 46, 61, 95, 257]. Other varieties: Chinese dogwood (Cornus machrophylla), Chinese name Sung-yang; in Japan this tree is Celtis muku or Ehretia serrata; Jamaican dogwood (Piscidia erythrina) used medicinally for panic attacks and excessive stress; and Osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) used by the Native Americans, the inner bark has properties of quinine used as tea internally. Cornaceae. Also used as a poultice for external sores and ulcers. The most valuable part of the tree is its bark. 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