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BIRCH TREE BETULA PENDULA (=B. ALBA) The juice of the leaves is good to wash sore mouths. The Silver Birch or European Birch is a largish tree with many boughs and slender branches which bend downward. The leaves are like Beech leaves but smaller and dented about the edges. It bears catkins like those of the Hazel Nut tree. Where to find it: It grows in woods. Flowering time: Spring. Astrology: It is a tree of Venus. Medicinal virtues: The juice of the leaves, or the distilled water of them, breaks the stone in the kidneys or bladder, and is good for sore mouths. Modern uses: The bark and leaves are used in preparations for skin diseases. Distillation of the bark yields Birch tar oil, an astringent ingredient of ointments for eczema and psoriasis. Birch tea is an infusion of the leaves. It is bitter tasting but helpful in gout and rheumatic complaints. |