Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

An Early American Favorite

Family: Ulmaceae; (includes Nettles)

Genus and Species: Ulmus Tubre, U. Fulva

Also known as: Red elm, Indian Elm

Parts used: Inner bark

No food or drug of today comes close to matching the place of honor slippery elm held in l Sth- and 19thcentury America. Great elm forests covered the East and even in cities, the versatile bark was always close at hand.

A Bark for All Reasons

Soaked in water and wrapped around meats, the bark retarded spoilage in the days before refrigeration. Coarsely ground and mixed with water, it turned into a spongy mass and was molded into bandages to cover wounds and made into pill-like coverings for unpleasant-tasting medicines. Ground and mixed with water or milk, slippery elm bark turned into a soothing, nutritious food similar to oatmeal, which was used to treat sore throat, cough, colds, and gastrointestinal ailments and to feed infants and hospital patients. Slippery elm sore throat lozenges were a fixture in home medicine cabinets, and the herb was the nation’s leading home remedy for anything in need of soothing.

Slippery elm is still listed in the National Formulary, the pharmacists’ reference, and health food stores still sell lozenges containing the herb. But our once-great elm forests have been decimated by Dutch elm disease, and both our landscape and our herbal Healing heritage are poorer as a result.

Bark for Broken Bones

First-century Greek physician Dioscorides prescribed bathing in a European elm bath to speed the Healing of broken bones. His prescription survived more than 1,500 years. In the 17th century, English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper wrote: “The decoction being bathed in, heals broken bones … [and] is excellent [for] places … burnt with fire. The leaves bruised, applied, and being bound thereon with its own bark heal wounds.” Culpeper also claimed elm root decoction restored hair on bald scalps.

Colonists found the Indians using American slippery elm bark as a food and treatment for wounds, sore throat, cough, inflamed nipples (mastitis), and many other ailments. The colonists adopted these uses and developed many more, including applying slippery elm poultices to bring boils to a head.

America’s early 19th-century Thomsonian herbalists recommended slippery elm tea as a laxative gentle enough for children, and Thomsonian midwives lubricated their hands with the slippery bark before performing internal examinations.

Elm Stick Law

Indian women inserted slippery elm sticks to induce abortion, and white women adopted the practice, which caused many deaths from uterine infection and hemorrhage. As a result, several state legislatures passed laws forbidding the sale of slippery elm bark in pieces longer than 1½ inches.

By the Civil War, slippery elm was being used to treat syphilis, gonorrhea, and hemorrhoids. America’s Eclectic physicians called it “very valuable” and suggested “a tablespoon of the powder boiled in milk affords a nourishing diet for infants newly weaned, preventing the bowel complaints to which they are subject. Some physicians consider the constant use of it, during and after the seventh month of gestation, as advantageous in facilitating an easy delivery.”

Contemporary herbalists recommend slippery elm bark externally to cover wounds and soothe skin problems and internally as a tea to treat sore throat, cough, diarrhea, ulcers, colitis, and other gastrointestinal complaints.

Even the Food and Drug Administration calls this herb “an excellent demulcent” (soothing agent).

Wounds - Slippery elm bark contains special cells that expand into a spongy mass in the presence of liquid. Applied to thoroughly cleaned wounds, it dries to form an herbal bandage.

Cough, Sore Throat, Digestive Complaints - Slippery elm decoction helps soothe the throat and digestive tract.

Women’s Health - Slippery elm decoction has a long history of use by pregnant women, and the medical literature contains no reports of problems. The active constituent, mucilage, should not harm the fetus. If you have a history of problematic pregnancy, however, consult your physician before using it.

Myth - Slippery elm has never been shown to speed the Healing of broken bones.

Rx for Slippery Elm

For a poultice to bandage wounds, stir enough water into powdered bark to make a paste and apply to the affected area.

For a soothing decoction, use I to 3 teaspoons of powdered herb per cup of water. Blend a little water in first to prevent lumpiness. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Drink up to 3 cups a day. Slippery elm has only a slight taste and a mild aroma reminiscent of maple.

Slippery elm may be given cautiously to children under age 2.

Allergic reactions are possible. Otherwise, the medical literature contains no reports of slippery elm causing harm.

For otherwise healthy adults, slippery elm is safe in amounts typically recommended.

Slippery elm should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. Let your doctor know if you experience unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks. If wounds become increasingly warm, red, painful, or inflamed, consult a physician.

A Tree That Shades and Soothes

Slippery elm is a stately tree that reaches 60 feet. Its trunk bark is brown, but its branch bark is whitish. Its leaves are broad, rough, hairy, and toothed. Check local nurseries to see if this tree can be grown in your area.