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HOW ABOUT HERBS 



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Trees & Controversies 



My dictionary tells me that an 

 herb is any seed-producing an- 

 nual, biennial, or perennial whose 

 stem withers to the ground after each 

 season's growth — as distinguished 

 from a tree or shrub whose stem 

 lives from year to year. A second 

 definition tells me that a plant val- 

 ued for its medicinal, savory, or aro- 

 matic qualities is considered an 

 herb. So of course, some trees and 

 shrubs are herbs. I've chosen three 

 that grow in our zones of 4 and 5 

 There are many more. 



One of my favorites is witch hazel 

 {Hamamelis virginiana), a native well- 

 known for its medicinal use. It was 

 important in colonial days and is one 

 of the more common home remedies 

 in the United States today. A distilla- 

 tion of bark, twigs, and leaves mixed 

 with alcohol and water, witch hazel is 

 used mainly as an astringent. And it 

 can be found in body lotion, skin 

 cleanser, and aftershave. 



Dr. Varro F. Tyler, Dean of the 

 School of Pharmacy at Purdue Uni- 

 versity, writes in The Honest Herbal, a 

 book billed as "a sensible guide to 

 the use of herbs and related rem- 

 edies" that although witch hazel is a 

 good astringent and safe to use, it's 

 a mistake to expect much of anything 

 in the way of useful therapeutic ac- 

 tion. He goes on to discuss the dis- 

 tillation of witch hazel: the process 

 removes virtually all tannin, leaving 

 you with a preparation which has no 

 tannin and with about the same alco- 

 hol content as table wine. He con- 

 cludes by saying that "...red wine is 

 seldom applied externally, but at 

 least it contains some tannin and its 

 therapeutic value as an astringent 

 would therefore exceed that of witch 

 hazel." 



The Howes! Herbal is published by 

 Pharmaceutical Products Press, NY, 

 which may indicate a less-than-objec- 

 tive point of view. 



All that aside, I personally recom- 

 mend witch hazel for its beauty, its 

 unusual blooming times, and the fact 

 that several varieties are native to 

 North America. Hamamelis virginiana 

 blooms late in the fall after most 

 leaves have fallen, so its yellow spi- 

 dery flowers are very visible. The 

 other witch hazels, such as H. vernalis, 

 H. mollis, and H. japonica, bloom in 

 very early spring, February, and 

 March, and thus are very visible and 

 certainly very welcome. Some excel- 

 lent hybrid varieties, such as 

 'Arnold's Promise,' should be more 

 available to gardeners. 



^J personally 



recommend «vitch hazel 



for its beauty, 



its unusual 



blooming times, 



and the fact that 



several varieties are 



native to North 



America. 



Sassafras [Sassafras albidum) is an- 

 other well-known native, perhaps the 

 first North American herb to be ex- 

 ported to Europe It's hardy to Zone 

 4, according to Wyman, and although 

 it can grow rather tall (up to 65 feet) 

 for the average herb garden, it is a 

 great understory woodland tree. We 

 used to look for its mitten-shaped 

 leaves and peel back the bark and 

 crush the twigs to get at its fragrance. 

 Other features are its bright autumn 

 color and the interesting red fruit 

 stems that bear blue berries. The 

 root oil contains safrole, which gave 

 flavor to root beer, toothpaste, and 

 tobacco, and the fruit oil is used in 



perfumes. Its aromatic ground-up 

 leaves, called "file powder," are used 

 to thicken cajun soups. Older herbals 

 recommend it as a treatment for 

 rheumatism, skin diseases, syphilis, 

 typhus, "dropsy," and so on. Today, 

 it still has a good reputation as a 

 stimulant and its various uses are 

 proclaimed by several well-known 

 herbal writers. Adelma Grenier 

 Simmons of Caprilands Herb Farm in 

 Connecticut writes of using sassafras 

 tea as a spring tonic. 



Tyler (again in The Honest Herbal] 

 sees things quite differently: "unfor- 

 tunately, sassafras still continues to 

 be collected, used, sold, and written 

 about as an herbal remedy. No one 

 really knows just how harmful it is to 

 human being, but it has been esti- 

 mated that one cup of strong sassa- 

 fras tea could contain as much as 200 

 mg. of safrole, a recognized carcino- 

 gen." The FDA no longer allows sa- 

 frole to be used as a food flavoring 

 or additive. 



For centuries plants have had me- 

 dicinal uses. Northern Prickly Ash 

 [Zanthoxylum americanum) is another 

 native, but one that I am not familiar 

 with It seems to be rather small, 

 growing to about 25 feet; it's 

 shrubby, deciduous, and bearing tiny 

 fragrant yellow-green blossoms in 

 spring before citrus-scented com- 

 pound leaves appear. Native Ameri- 

 cans chewed the bark as a remedy 

 for toothache and drank a berry tea 

 to cure sore throats. 



Today's controversies come as 

 what's sometimes seen as a lot of 

 "old wives' tales" attempt to find a 

 legitimate place beside more "scien- 

 tific" medical solutions. 



The many viewpoints are fascinat- 

 ing. Caution and an open mind will 

 add to the enjoyment of any herb 

 garden. 



Tanya ]ackson, a well-known area kerbalist, 

 can be reached at 603-431-6774. 



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THE PLANTSMAN 



