White willow; salix alba; nature's aspirin.

Introduced from Europe into eastern United States, this tree does not have

the characteristics of the Weeping Willow (salix babalonica) and its limbs

do not "weep" but are more upright, somewhat akin to an elm. The tree

grows to 80 feet tall and to 3 feet in diameter. The leaves are typical

willow shape, long and thin (described as finely toothed, lance-like),

about 2 to 4 inches long and averaging 1 inch wide at the widest. The

leaves grow from a whip-like slender stem that is greenish when small.

Older bark is furrowed and grayish brown. The leaves are pale green above

and silvery below and covered with fine hairs.

Uses:

White willow bark is used in the same manner as is aspirin. In fact,

aspirin was originally created from research into White willow bark. As

nature's aspirin, White willow continues to be an important herb to be kept

in our awareness if not in the medicine chest (aspirin is just too easy to

keep and use). White willow bark reduces fever, relieves pain, prevents

migraine headaches, aids in reducing the onset of some cancers, reduces the

frequency of heart attack and stroke, relieves inflammation, and tastes

simply awful. The active chemical in White willow is called salicin.

History:

Chinese physicians used willow to reduce pain and inflammation from before

the time of Christ. It was not until about 1750 that Rev. Edmund Stone md.

of Oxfordshire, England experimented with White willow in an attempt to

treat malaria with a local source rather than the expensive and difficult

to obtain cinchona bark which contains quinine, an effective antimalarial

drug. The good Reverend used the bark from White willow because it tasted

similar to the bitter cinchona bark. When he gave it to the local

patients, their pain and fever were reduced even though it did not control

the malaria. Medicinal applications of the herb caught on quickly and word

spread of its effectiveness against pain, inflammation, and fever. White

willow trees began to be transported throughout Europe and the Americas for

medical purposes. Today, the willow goes largely unidentified because of

the introduction of aspirin in readily useable form in 1899.

Current Status:

White willow bark still has a usefulness that should not be ignored.

Aspirin upsets some people's stomachs, but white willow bark seems to be

free of this problem. Experts point out that white willow bark will work on

almost anything you take aspirin for. The dosage is just more difficult to

control from bark than from the pharmaceutical company's brewed up

standards. It will likely require several cups of white willow bark tea to

give the effectiveness of two standard aspirin tablets. If your willow

bark reduces pain and fever, the same dose will act to produce the

preventive benefits of aspirin which include warding off stroke and heart

attack, combating certain types of cancer (digestive tract), preventing

migraine headaches, reducing the frequency of internal blood clots, and

reducing toothache.

Brewing some healing:

If you grow your own, you may use fresh if you strip and chop into fine

particles to get the most fresh surfaces available to the water. You may

steam fresh bark to make the chemical available also (do not boil). From

the local store, you will likely get powdered bark. This works well and

will store well, in addition, you may dry and powder your own bark for

future use. To make a tea, soak one teaspoon of powdered bark in a cup of

cold water for eight hours. This allows the salicin to dissolve into the

water (it is slow to get into solution). Strain out the bark and drink.

You may make as much as you want in advance but refrigerate no more than 48

hours after which it will lose its effectiveness. This stuff really tastes

nasty (commonly called bitter and astringent) so you may want to add

whatever you can think of the make it drinkable.

Precautions:

If nausea or ringing in the ears develops, reduce your dose or discontinue

use. If you are pregnant or have a chronic gastrointestinal condition such

as ulcers, colitis or Crohn's disease use caution with this herb. Children

under 18 who have colds, flu or chicken pox and take aspirin, are at risk

for Reye's syndrome, a potentially fatal condition. Although White willow

has not been linked to Reye's syndrome, use caution here also and do not

give it to children with fevers from those conditions. For other symptoms,

children over 2 may use low-strength preparations, increasing strength if

necessary. People over 65 should also begin with low-strength preparations

to gain the benefits listed above.