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White Willow Bark
Salix alba Tree
Ezekiel 47:12 "And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine."
Nicknames: White Willow;[1]
Plant Family: Salicaceae;[1] Genus: Salix;[1] Species: S. alba;[1]
Ethnobotany: I'm not sure if it was the same Willow that grows in Europe, but numerous sources say that the Native Americans used Willow for pain due to its salycilic acid.[7] Native Americans used Willow for: as an anti-biotic, as an astringent, for cancer, as a natural Deodorant(Entrepaneurs write that down!), for fevers, gangrene, hemorrhaging, hemmrrhoids, impetigo, infection, sexual depressant, for tootheache, ulcerated wounds, vaginal infections, veneral disease, and possibly more I'm sure.[8] Those facts on Willow use among Native American indians are straight from a book that was written by a Native American woman named Mary Summer Rain. I'm glad to be using her book as a source, and feel both accomplished and satisfied knowing that the statements on this website come from credible sources.
Natural Habitat: Native to Europe and western and central Asia.[1] There are Willow's native to North America that the Native Americans used as medicine, the same as Salix alba. I'm not sure if it is the same species, but it was used much in the same way.
Mixes well with: I like to mix it with Mullein to counteract the Salacylic acid. Mullein is good for ulcers, and is what someone who has abused aspirin and gotten an ulcer from doing so would use to treat that ulcer. I love the idea of mixing in things like Mullein with those that are highly acidic, as a counter measure and preventative agent.
OG Observations: Some plants are not exactly the same species, but are practically the same. Like for example, how White Willow was used in Europe, but Willow was also used by the Native Americans of North America. Both tree's from the two different contenents still produce the desired chemical constituents required for the medicinal properties to be there.
What is Phytochemistry? What are Phytochemicals? Phytochemistry is a neighboring field of study to that of ethnobotany.[10] Ethnobotanist and ethnobotanical vendors help phytochemist know which plants to study in the lab, and help them get their hands on the specimens do to their research.[10] This is where future drug discovery takes place.[10] Phytochemist study the pharmacological chemical constituents that plants produce to determinte their medicinal qualities.[9]
Phytochemicals: The White Willow tree produces the complex pharmacological constituent known as Salicin. It's a glycoside that's obtained from several species of Salix, and Populus.[3] That's very important to note, because it illustrates the point that these medicines are recurring in the plant kingdom, and not limited to just one source. White Willow produces and contains: phenolics, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and tannins.[4] Willow produces salicylic acid.[11][12]
DIY Preparation Tip(s): According to one academic source, "The highest phenolic, tannin, and flavonoid contents were found for willow bark extracts obtained using ethanol as a solvent".[5] Ethanol means alcohol. This is why it matters whether you decide to make a tea, or a tincture, because water and alcohol are both solvents, and both of them do not absorb or extract the same phytochemical constituents. In ancient days medicinal preparations could get quite complicated because of this concept. Ancient plant alchemist knew how to isolate crystalized phytochemicals from the ashes of dried plant material(in this case, specifically the "plant salts"), through a process known as calcination.[6] Warning: The occult will bring a curse upon you.
Pharmacological / Medicinal Properties: White willow(Salix alba) demonstrates antibacterial and antifungal activity, acetylcholinesterase AChE inhibitory activity and anti-inflammatory effects.[4] Scientific studies have proven that "Willow bark extract showed antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus and P. aeruginosa."[5] White Willow bark is used in the mass production of Aspirin.[3][10][11]
More HerbsPedia Blogs: Mullein
Buy Salix Alba Here!
Academic citations:
[4] Aleman, Ricardo S., et al. "Effect of Microwave and Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction on the Phytochemical and In Vitro Biological Properties of Willow (Salix alba) Bark Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts." Plants 12.13 (2023): 2533.
[6] Cotnoir, Brian. The Weiser concise guide to alchemy. Weiser Books, 2006.
[7] https://it.usembassy.gov/native-americans-many-contributions-to-medicine/
[9] Burrell, R. C. "Phytochemistry. What it is and how it has developed." Journal of Chemical Education 14.11 (1937): 520.
[12] Raskin, Ilya. "Role of salicylic acid in plants." Annual review of plant biology 43.1 (1992): 439-463.
[11] Swerdlow, Joel L. Nature’s Medicine : Plants That Heal. Washington, D.C., National Geographic Society, 2000.
[10] Balick, Michael J., and Paul Alan Cox. Plants, People, and Culture : The Science of Ethnobotany. New York, Garland Science, 2020.
[8] Rain, Mary Summer. Earthway: A Native American Visionary's Path to Total Mind, Body, and Spirit Health. Simon and Schuster, 1992.
[3] Tyler, Varro E, et al. Pharmacognosy. 1988.
Encyclopedia Sources:
[1] Wikipedia contributors, "Salix alba," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salix_alba (accessed December 21, 2024).
[2] Plants For A Future Archive
Other resources:
M.A.P.S. Ethnobotanical Studies By Scholars
PubChem - pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov