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 | Cherry Other Names: Virginian Prune. Black Cherry.
Botanical Name: Prunus serotina (EHRL.)
Family: N.O. Rosaceae |
Description: |
| This tree grows from 50 to 80 feet high, and 2 to 4 feet in diameter. The bark is black and rough and separates naturally from the trunk. Wood polishes well, as it is fine-grained and compact, hence it is much used by cabinet-makers. Leaves deciduous, 3 to 5 inches long, about 2 inches wide, on petioles which have two pairs of reddish glands, they are obovate, acuminate, with incurved short teeth, thickish and smooth and glossy on upper surface; flowers bloom in May, and are white, in erect long terminal racemes, with occasional solitary flowers in the axils of the leaves. Fruit about the size of a pea, purply-black, globular drupe, edible with bitterish taste, is ripe in August and September. The tree is most abundant and grows to its full size in the south-western States. The root-bark is of most value, but that of the trunk and branches is also utilized. This bark must be freshly collected each season as its properties deteriorate greatly if kept longer than a year. It has a short friable fracture and in commerce it is found in varying lengths and widths 1 to 8 inches, slightly curved, outer bark removed, a reddish-fawn colour. These fragments easily powder. It has the odour of almonds, which almost disappears on drying, but is renewed by maceration. Its taste is aromatic, prussic, and bitter. It imparts its virtues to water or alcohol, boiling impairs its medicinal properties. |
Habitat: |
| North America generally, especially in Northern and Central States |
Constituents: |
| Starch, resin, tannin, gallic acid, fatty matter, lignin, red colouring matter, salts of calcium, potassium, and iron, also a volatile oil associated with hydrocyanic acid by distillation of water from the bark |
Medicinal Usage: |
Astringent tonic, pectoral, sedative. It has been used in the treatment of bronchitis of various types. Is valuable in catarrh, consumption nervous cough, whooping-cough, and dyspepsia.
Dosages: Syrup, B.P. and U.S.P., 1 to 4 drachms. Tincture, B.P., 1/2 to 1 drachm. Infusion, U.S.P., 2 oz. Fluid extract, 1/2 to 1 drachm. Prunin, 1 to 3 grains. |
Ancient Lore: |
CHERRIES (Winter) PHYSALIS ALKEKENGI
It helpeth those that void a bloody or foul urine.
The Winter Cherry has a creeping root in the ground and quickly spreads over a great compass of ground. The stalk grows no more than 36 inches (90 cm) high with broad and long green leaves, rather like Nightshade, but larger. The whitish flowers are followed by green berries which when ripe turn red and are enclosed in a ribbed covering.
Where to find it: It is cultivated in gardens, but is found wild in many countries. It should not be confused with the pot plant known as 'Winter Cherry'. Gardeners know it as the Chinese Lantern.
Flowering time. Midsummer. The berries are ripe late summer or early autumn.
Astrology: A plant of Venus.
Medicinal virtues: The leaves are cooling and may be used in inflammations. The berries draw down the urine when it has grown hot, sharp and painful in the passage. It is good to expel the stone and gravel and to cleanse ulcers in the bladder. Take three or four good handfuls of the berries, fresh or dried, bruise them and put them into beer or ale when it is new and tunned up. Taken daily this drink has been found to ease the pains and expel the stone. A decoction of the berries in wine and water is the most usual way to take them, but the powder of berries taken in a drink is more effectual.
Modern uses: Not used by modern herbalists, but homeopaths make a tincture from the ripe berries. These are diuretic, laxative, and cooling in fevers. Overdoses cause constipation. The usual dose is about five or six berries. Stoneroot is now more popular as a herbal treatment for urinary tract stones, and Elderflowers for fevers. |
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