Bayberry

Parts Usually Used

Bark, leaves, flowers

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Coarse, stiff, shrub or small, slender, tree; to 3-8 feet. Bark is brownish-gray and smooth; leaves narrow at the base. Young branchlets waxy. Leaves oblong to lance-shaped, 1-4 inches long, reduced at the tip of the branches, often sparingly toothed, dark green and shiny above, paler and sometimes hairy beneath; leathery, evergreen, with waxy globules. Flowers appear in early spring, March and April, before or with the new leaves.

Fruits, borne against the stems, 1/8 inch across. The green berries are covered, when mature, with a pale blue, lavender or grayish-white aromatic wax in microscopic rounded particles used in making candles which burn with a pleasing fragrance. Bayberry needs lime free soil.

Where Found

Sandy swamps, thickets, marshes and wet woodlands. Southern New Jersey to Florida, Texas to Arkansas. West Indies

Medicinal Properties

Stimulant, astringent, emetic, antispasmodic, alterative, expectorant, diaphoretic, tonic. Leaves – aromatic, stimulant

Biochemical Information

Volatile oil, starch, lignin, albumen, gum, tannic and gallic acids, acrid and astringent resins, an acid resembling saponin

Legends, Myths and Stories

One of the most versatile herbs, this native American plant is highly regarded by herbal practitioners. Nineteenth century physicians used to prescribe a hot tea made from the powdered bark of the bayberry at the first sign of a cold, cough, or flu. Wax of the berries is used to make fragrant candles. To obtain the wax, boil the berries in water. The wax floats to the surface and can be removed when hardened.

Gather root bark in the fall. Cleanse it thoroughly and while fresh separate the bark with a hammer. Dry the root completely and keep in a dry place; when dry enough to pulverize do so and store in a dark glass or pottery sealed container.

Uses

Historically, herbalists regarded bayberry as a staple remedy, while the fruits were utilized for producing candle wax. Traditional practitioners prepared teas from the root bark as an astringent and emetic, recommending it for chronic gastritis, diarrhea, leukorrhea, bowel inflammation, jaundice, and excessive menstrual bleeding. It was also employed as a mouthwash for bleeding gums, as a circulatory aid, and for catarrhal conditions of the alimentary tract.

Herbalists applied preparations of the bark to ulcers, varicose veins, chronic sores, and boils, sometimes applying the powder directly to wounds. Leaf infusions were historically administered for fevers, sore throats, bronchitis, indigestion, and hemorrhoids, or applied externally as a wash for itching. The powdered root bark featured prominently in "composition powder," a common domestic remedy for colds, flu, laryngitis, sinusitis, asthma, and chills.

It was also blended with cinnamon, myrrh, salt, and echinacea into tooth powders, utilized in historical approaches to goiter, and the oil was applied externally to bruises. Practitioners additionally employed bayberry alongside lobelia as an emetic in cases of narcotic poisoning.

Bibliography

, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , West Nyack, NY, 1987. 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.

, Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 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. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 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. , 1974