| ELM TREE ULMUS MINOR The leaves thereof be raised and applied heal wounds. This Elm has a rough thick bark and the branches are clothed with rough, crenated green leaves. Where to find it: Woods and hedgerows. Dutch Elm disease has depleted the numbers of this tree in recent years. Flowering time. The small flowers appear in early spring before the leaves. Astrology: A cold and saturnine plant. Medicinal virtues: The leaves or the bark used with vinegar cure scurf and leprosy very effectually. Bathing with a decoction of the leaves, bark or root, heals broken bones. The decoction of the bark of the root mollifies hard tumours and the shrinking of the sinews. Modern uses: The bark is soothing and diuretic and is mainly used to treat dropsy. A decoction is made by using 1 oz (28 g) of bark to 3 fl oz (230 ml) Of water and boiling for 10 minutes. Add water to make up to the original 8 fl oz (230 ml). The dose is 1 fl OZ (30 ml). The decoction is slightly astringent and can be used as a lotion for skin diseases, such as ringworm. Homoeopaths make a tincture from the bark which they use for skin eruptions and ulcerated conditions. One of the most important remedies in herbal medicine is the Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva), an American tree. The bark has similar properties to the Common Elm, but is superior. The powdered bark is used as a nutritious drink for those with inflammatory bowel disease, or for bronchitis. It is healing and soothing to mucous membranes. A teaspoonful of the powder is added to 1 Pt (568 ml) of boiling water, infused for a few minutes and strained. It can be taken freely. Slippery Elm tablets and commercial versions of the gruel are generally available from health stores. Because it is nutritious, Slippery Elm infusion - 1 oz (30 g) of powdered bark to 1 pt (570 ml) of water - has been injected into the bowel in serious cases of diarrhoea and dysentery where other treatments have failed. |
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