Contents:
Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Legends, Myths and Stories | Uses | Formulas or Dosages | Nutrient Content | How Sold | Warning | Bibliography
Scientific Names
- Viburnum opulus L.
- Caprifoliaceae
- Honeysuckle family
Common Names
- Crampbark high
- High cranberry
- Highbush cranberry
- Snowball tree
- Guelder rose
- Squaw bush
Parts Usually Used
Bark
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Crampbark is a large, handsome, upright shrub or tree; to 12 feet high; leaves maple-like, with 3-5 lobes, hairy beneath. The leaf stalks have a narrow groove, and a disk-shaped gland. Leaves have three lobes and are broadly wedge-shaped. White flowers in a rounded head, to 4 inches across; April to June. Flowers are showy and are succeeded by red, very acid berries, resembling low cranberries, and sometimes substituted for them. Flower clusters have inner fertile flowers, outer sterile ones. They remain on the bush after the leaves have fallen and throughout the winter. The bark has no smell, but has a peculiar bitterish and astringent taste, which leaves a clean taste in the mouth. Viburnine is the active principle found in the dried bark of the stem.
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Where Found
Found in the northern part of the United States and Canada. Grows in low rich lands, woods, and borders of fields.
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Medicinal Properties
Antispasmodic, nervine, tonic, astringent, diuretic
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Biochemical Information
Viburnine, chlorogenic acid, beta-sitosterol, and ursolic acid, vitamins C and K
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Legends, Myths and Stories
This plant was well known to the Native Americans.
Crampbark was also a favorite of the horse and buggy doctors. They were known to say, “make a strong tea of the high cranberry bush bark, and drink 1/3 of a tsp. and it will stop cramp in 20 minutes”. To prevent recurrence of the trouble they suggested drinking the tea night and morning for a couple of weeks.
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Uses
As the name implies, crampbark relieves cramps and spasms of involuntary muscular contractions such as in asthma, hysteria, convulsions, cramps during pregnancy (preventing the attack entirely if used daily for the last 2-3 months of gestation. Also, relieves dysmenorrhea, labor pains, headache, neuralgia, earaches, epididymitis, lumbago, miscarriage, paralysis, tubercular lungs, with honey for high blood pressure, heart conditions, bladder, constipation, stomach cramps, cough, cold, fever, flu, sclerosis, eczema, scrofula, and skin conditions.
The low cranberry and possibly the high cranberry is known to be a direct medication for erysipelas. If applied early, externally, this condition yields at once. Also for malignant ulcers and scarlet fever when applied to the throat. Pound the berries and spread them in a fold of old cotton cloth and apply over the entire diseased surface and the inflammation will speedily subside. Its usefulness is universally acknowledged.
In China, leaves and fruit are used as an emetic, laxative, and antiscorbutic.
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Formulas or Dosages
Infusion: steep 1 tsp. of the cut bark in 1 cup boiling water for 30 minutes; when cold, drink 1-2 cups a day.
Tincture: 1/2 fl. dram.
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Nutrient Content
The berries are rich in vitamins C and K.
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How Sold
Capsules, extract
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Warning
Berries are considered potentially poisonous; they contain chlorogenic acid, beta-sitosterol, and ursolic acid, at least when they are unripe.
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Bibliography
Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants
, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000
The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine
, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991
Planetary Herbology
, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992
The Complete Medicinal Herbal
, by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993
Indian Herbalogy of North America
, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973
American Folk Medicine
, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973
Webster’s New World Dictionary
, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023
How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine & Crafts
, by Frances Densmore, Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974
An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants
, by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992).
The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living
, by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Co. (1988).
The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine
, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.
A Useful Guide to Herbal Health Care
, HCBL (Health Center for Better Living).,1414 Rosemary Lane, Naples, FL 34103., Special Sale Catalog, 1996
The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book)
, edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974