Birch Bark

betula alba
betula lenta
betula pendula Roth & B.
Betulaceae
Betula sp. Betulaceae

Active Constituents and Effects
betulin
Leaves contain betulorentic acid.
By destructive distillation, the white epidermis of the bark
yields an empyreumatic oil, known variously in commerce
as oil of Birch Tar, Oleum Rusci, Oleum Betulinum or Dagget.
This is a thick, bituminous, brownish-black liquid,
with a pungent, balsamic odour.
It contains a high percentage
of methylsalicylate, creosol and guaiacol.
The Rectified Oil (Oleum Rusci Rectificatum)
is sometimes substituted for oil of Cade.
Birch Tar oil is almost identical with Wintergreen oil.
It is not completely soluble in 95 per cent acetic acid,
nor in aniline, but Turpentine oil dissolves it completely.
Birch bark only contains
about 3% of tannic acid, but is extensively
used for tanning, wherever there are large birch forests,
throughout Northern Europe.
As it gives a pale colour to the skin, it is used
for the preliminary and the final stages of tanning.
It contains betulin and betuls camphor.

Medicinal Action and Uses
Vernal sap is diuretic.

Moxa is made from the yellow, fungous excrescences
of the wood, which sometimes swell out from the fissures.

DOSE
Of alcoholic extract of the leaves, 25 to 30 grains daily.


Medicinal Action and Uses
Various parts of the tree have been applied to medicinal uses.
The young shoots and leaves secrete
a resinous substance having acid properties, which,
combined with alkalies, is said to be a tonic laxative.
The leaves have a peculiar, aromatic, agreeable
odour and a bitter taste, and have been employed
in the form of infusion (Birch Tea) in gout,
rheumatism and dropsy, and recommended
as a reliable solvent of stone in the kidneys.
With the bark they resolve and resist putrefaction.
A decoction of them is good for bathing
skin eruptions, and is serviceable in dropsy.

Oil is astringent, and is mainly employed for its curative
effects in skin affections, especially eczema,
but is used for some Internal maladies.

Inner bark is bitter and astringent, and has
been used in intermittent fevers.

Moxa is made from the yellow, fungous excrescences
of the wood, which sometimes swell out from the fissures.

DOSE
Of alcoholic extract of the leaves, 25 to 30 grains daily.


Special Thanks

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