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Oak

Quercus alba

Gospel Tree
Oak
Tanners Bark

Parts used
Uses
Habitat and cultivation
Constituents
Side effects and cautions
Applications

Oak - an imposing tree capable of reaching 99 ft (30 m) in height and 33 ft (10 m) around, and of living for 1000 years. Its grayish bark is smooth; its wood is pale brown, hard and heavy with a dense grain. The leaves are divided into several rounded lobes. The fruit is a smooth acorn, caramel-colored at maturity, and topped with a sculpted cup that covers a quarter of the fruit. A healthy, 25-year-old oak tree can produce up to 25,000 acorns. Its roots have a wide spread.

The botanical name quercus comes from the Celt words quer (good) and cuez (tree), and the common name of chen (beautiful). The Celts once considered the oak a holy symbol: on the sixth lunar day in December, the Druids harvested mistletoe with a gold billhook and announced the new year with cries of: "To mistletoe, the new year."; For many years, the acorn was used to produce flour for the peasants. Today, some Berber tribes still use it to make a nutritious gruel called racahout. The Ancient Greeks associated the oak with Zeus because of its strength and power, while the Romans associated it with Jupiter. The tradition of celebrating rituals in the shade of the oak tree continued after the introduction of Christianity, from which it got its English nickname" the prayer tree" or gospel tree.

The Goths considered the oak a symbol of strength and triumph: the expression "strong as an oak" is deeply entrenched in popular memory. The anonymous healers of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance used the leaves and the bark internally against diarrhea, hemorrhaging, tuberculosis and rickets; externally in a poultice to treat oozing wounds, in powder form to stop nosebleeds, and as a talc to stop hemorrhaging.

The bark was often combined with iron salt to dye fabrics black and, to a certain degree everywhere in the world, to tan hides. Oak wood is one of the most prized raw materials for building ships, furniture, house frames and railroad trestles. Oak was a natural resource highly coveted by settlers. In the space of 200 years, the French and the English completely plundered thousands of acres of white oak in southern Quebec.

PARTS USED

The buds and young leaves in early spring, the acorns in fall, and, at the end of winter, the outer bark and the sapwood (inner bark).

USES

Excessive sweating, Foot odor, Frostbite and chilblains, Gangrene, Goiter, Hyperthyroidism, Laryngitis, Pelvic inflammatory disease, Pregnancy problems, Stomsch ulcers.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Open clearings or grasslands near mixed deciduous forests.

CONSTITUENTS

Bark: gallic acid, tannins, minerals (calcium, iron, potassium).
Leaves: vitamins A, C and E, chlorophyll, mucilages, carbohydrates.
Fruit: starches, sugars, tannins, calcium oxalate.

SIDE EFFECTS AND CAUTIONS

Absorbing too much oak bark can lead to serious constipation. Avoid cooking in a cast-iron saucepan, as the tannins become toxic for the kidneys when exposed to the iron.

APPLICATIONS

The buds are used to make a mother tincture in alcohol (1 part buds to 10 parts alcohol). At a rate of 20 drops before each meal, it combats impotence, low blood pressure and general physical and mental fatigue. The young dried leaves are drunk in a decoction: 1 leaf for 1 cup (250 ml) water to stimulate biliary flow, cleanse the spleen and regenerate irritated bowels.

The outer bark and sapwood are harvested from a tree that is at least 7 years old. The bark is cut into pieces before being boiled for a few minutes. Use in a 10-day cure at a rate of 1 oz (30 g) per 4 cups (1 liter) water: use internally to treat copper, lead or mercury poisoning, and bloody diarrhea. Use externally in a compress against anal or vaginal infections, leukorrhea, hemorrhoids and all other abnormal skin suppurations.

For years I have used a tea from the bark to cure poison ivy – Hawk

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