The efficacy and function of birch bark

The medical value of birch bark is beyond our imagination. It is very effective in treating some diseases. Birch bark contains many substances that are beneficial to the human body. Let’s take a look.

[Alias] Keintos (Vietnamese name).

[Source] It is the bark of Betula verrucosa, a plant of the Betulaceae family. When the trees are felled, the bark is peeled, dried, and used raw or roasted for charcoal.

[Original form] Verrucous birch, also known as: Verrucous birch. Deciduous tree. The bark is grayish white, composed of several thin layers, easy to peel off, and the inner bark is orange-yellow. The branches are often drooping, reddish-brown and shiny. Leaves are alternate, often 2 leaves gathered together, triangular ovate or rhomboid ovate, 3-7.5 cm long, acuminate or caudate-acuminate at apex, cuneate or broadly cuneate to truncate at base, doubly serrate at margin, glabrous, with 6-8 pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence spikes axillary or terminal. The infructescence is cylindrical, 1 to 3 cm long and drooping; the fruit bract is 3-lobed, the middle lobe is triangular, and the lateral lobes are curved downward and longer than the middle lobe; the nutlets are ovate, and the membranous wings are twice as wide as the fruit.

[Habitat distribution] Grown on river beaches, valleys or the edge of coniferous forests. Distributed in northern Xinjiang.

【Chemical composition】 The wood contains a large amount of pentosan, terpenes and fatty acid esters of sterols. There is also a white anthocyanin reaction.

【Functions and indications】 Clears away heat, detoxifies, and relieves cough. Treat acute and chronic dysentery, cough and asthma, and mastitis.

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: roast and grind into powder, 0.5 to 1 qian; or take the fresh juice from the skin and drink.

[Additional prescription] ① For the treatment of acute bacterial dysentery and chronic dysentery: 3 liang of white birch bark and 1 liang of jujube bark, roast them separately and grind them into fine powder. Take 5 fen to 1 qian each time, three or four times a day. Take with water on an empty stomach.

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

The above is an introduction to the effects of birch bark. When using it, you can do so according to the needs mentioned above. Birch bark is also very helpful in treating certain diseases.