- Region
- North America
- Origin
- Deciduous forests of eastern North America, from Ontario to Florida and Louisiana; the tallest in the Great Smoky Mountains
- Traditions
- Cherokee medicine
North America · Herb · № 993
Liriodendron tulipifera
Herb · North America
Tulip tree
Liriodendron tulipifera
The tallest broadleaf tree of eastern America, up to almost sixty metres, of the magnolia family, with tulip-shaped greenish-yellow flowers with an orange patch. The bark is bitter and contains the alkaloid liriodenine and sesquiterpenes that inhibit bacteria and fungi; it was formerly used as a tonic and quinine substitute. The flowers give much nectar for a dark honey.
Safety notes
Do not take it for long or in large amounts; not in pregnancy, while breastfeeding or for children. A snakebite and a fracture need a doctor at once. Traditional use is no proof of effect; consult a doctor or pharmacist if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, take medication or have a medical condition.
Cautions by tradition (1)
- Cherokee (Tsalagi) medicine: Do not take it for long; not in pregnancy or for children.
Preparation
A tea of a teaspoon of dried inner bark, steeped for 10 minutes.
Use in traditions
Native peoples hollowed out the trunks into canoes so often that the first settlers called the tree canoewood. According to Hamel and Chiltoskey the Cherokee drank an infusion of the root bark for fever, gave the bark for stomach trouble, dysentery and rheumatism, and to children with pinworms or summer diarrhoea. They blew a decoction onto wounds, boils and broken limbs, washed a snakebite with it and put the bark in cough syrup. Garrett names the tulip tree among the trees of 'snake medicine'.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Cherokee (Tsalagi) medicine
Attributed effects
For fever, stomach trouble, dysentery and rheumatism, for children with pinworms or summer diarrhoea, in cough syrup, and blown onto wounds, boils and broken limbs. The trunks became canoes.
Preparation and amount
A tea of the (root) bark; a decoction externally.
Caution: Do not take it for long; not in pregnancy or for children.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)Decoction