THE GREEK STRAWBERRY TREE: INFORMATION AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF GREEK STRAWBERRY TREE

GREEK STRAWBERRY TREE, ARBUTUS UNEDO

The Greek strawberry tree is very similar to the strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo, and naturally crosses with it in the Mediterranean and Middle East where these trees are native. In Greek it is called Αγριοκουμαριά (field koumaria), Elafokoumaria' (wild koumaria) or 'Andraklos. It is a member of the Ericaceae family so is a relation of bilberries, blueberries and cranberries. It has similar properties to the strawberry tree.

  The bark of this evergreen tree peels off annually and can be used as a decoction for sore throats as a gargle and the infusion can be used as a tisane for the same ailment. An infusion of the leaves may be used for a cold, and the berries themselves are said to aid digestion and improve the appetite.

  This tree was described by Thomas Wright in his book, Early Travels in Palestine, published in 1845. He has this description of what is believed to be the Greek strawberry tree.                          

  “There was on the road a small tree bearing a fruit somewhat bigger than our cherries, and of the shape and taste of strawberries, but a little acid. It is pleasant to eat, but if a great quantity be eaten, it mounts to the head, and intoxication. It is ripe in November and December.”

  It was first reported as having flowered in England by Peter Collinson (1694-1768), an English botanist who must have seen it at Dr John Fothergill’s (1712-1780) botanical gardens and greenhouses at Upton House, in Essex, England.

  The fruit of the tree may be used in pies and baking, and can also be eaten raw. Different parts of the tree have been used to treat arthritis, eczema, rheumatism and lumbago.

  The fruit contains vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid, has antioxidant properties and is said to be a good source of phenolics. The fruit also contains malic acid, fructose, glucose and sucrose, the natural sugars.

  Very little research has been carried out into the possible health benefits of this tree.

EUROPEAN WILD CHERRY: SUPERSTITIONS, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF WILD CHERRY TREES

EUROPEAN WILD CHERRY, PRUNUS AVIUM  

The European wild cherry tree is the ancestor of all the cultivated cherry trees. It is different in many ways to its American cousin, Prunus serotina, as it is smaller, the flowers are completely different and the fruit is ripe when red (and sweet). It is a member of the Rosaceae or rose family making it a relative of apricots, peaches, plums, loquats, strawberries, raspberries, apples, pears, quinces, crab apples, almonds, silverweed, cinquefoil, Alpine Lady’s Mantle, avens, water avens and a whole host of other plants.

  The wild cherries have been eaten for millennia and some cherry stones have been carbon-dated to 2077BC, so our ancestors were familiar with the fruit. The tree bears flowers in early April, before the leaves have formed, and this makes it a spectacular sight. The fruit is ripe in mid-summer, in June and July and the birds love to eat it. The hawksbill is especially good at breaking open the cherry stone to get at the edible almondy kernel.

  The fruit can be either sweet or sour, but never acidic and is used for making jellies, jam, preserves and wine.

  A sticky resin exudes from the tree when the bark is cut and this sweet gum can be chewed like chewing gum. In traditional medicine it is given for persistent coughs, and is also believed to improve eyesight and give you a healthy flawless complexion.

  Perhaps surprisingly it is the fruit stalks and bark (as well as the resin) that are used in medicine. The stalks are astringent, diuretic and used as a tonic. They have been used to treat diarrhoea, cystitis and other bladder infections, oedema, bronchial problems and anaemia. The bark only contains a small percentage (16 per cent approximately) of tannin, so is used in medicine in combination with the fruit stalks.

  All cherry trees contain prunasin and amygdalen which convert to hydrocyanic acid (cyanide or prussic acid) in water. However in small doses this can stimulate the respiratory system, improve digestion and give an enhanced feeling of well-being. However in large doses it can prove fatal so is best left alone.

  The fruit gives a grey-green dye, while the leaves produce a green one. The cherry tree wood is a rich red-brown which polishes well and is valued for furniture, musical instruments, carving and turnery.

  In Britain there are two superstitions surrounding cherries, and the general one is that if you want to know when you will marry you count the stones on the plate in this way:-“This year, next year, sometime, never” and whatever you say when you get to the last stone tells you your fate.                           

  Another superstition only in Kent, is that if you visit a cherry orchard and do not rub your shoes with cherry leaves, you will die of suffocation from a cherry stone.

  There is a superstition in Switzerland which says that if the first fruit a cherry tree produces is eaten by a woman who has just had her first child, it will produce fruit in abundance throughout its life.

  In the Ardennes region in France, children used to carry lighted torches into fruit orchards on the first Sunday of Lent and chant:-

     “Bear apples, bear pears,

       And cherries all black

       To Scouvion!”

This is known in Britain as wassailing the fruit, but there it was only done with apple trees.

  Nicholas Culpeper, the English herbalist, writing his Herball in the 17^th century, had this to say of cherry trees: -

“Government and virtues. It is a tree of Venus. Cherries, as they are of different tastes, so they are of different qualities. The sweet pass through the stomach and the belly more speedily, but are of little nourishment; the tart or sour are more pleasing to an hot stomach, procure appetite to meat, and help to cut tough phlegm and gross humours; but when these are dried, they are more binding to the belly than when they are fresh, being cooling in hot diseases, and welcome to the stomach, and provoke urine. The gum of the cherry-tree, dissolved in wine, is good for a cold, cough, and hoarseness of the throat; mendeth the colour in the face, sharpeneth the eyesight, provoketh appetite, and helpeth to break and expel the stone; the black cherries bruised with the stones, and dissolved, the water thereof is much used to break the stone, and to expel gravel and wind.”

AMERICAN WILD BLACK CHERRY- HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF WILD BLACK CHERRY TREE

AMERICAN WILD CHERRY, PRUNUS SEROTINA 

The American wild black cherry is also known botanically as Prunus capuli, Cerasus capollin and Prunus salicifolia. It is related to other cherries, such as the morello cherry and as a member of the Rosaceae family it is a relation of the soft fruits; apricots, peaches, plums, loquats, raspberries, medlars as well as apples, pears, quinces, almonds, and a whole host of other fruit trees such as the blackthorn which produces sloes..It is also a relation of plants such as the silverweed, Alpine Lady's Mantle, Avens, Water Avens, cinquefoil and the rose and dog rose.

  It gets the name serotina because it is a late flowering tree, as far as cherry trees are concerned. It has long clusters of flowers which bloom between the months of May and June, and the fruit ripen between in September, when they turn from red to black. This is of course much later than other cherry trees whose fruit is ripe in June or July.      

   This is the only native cherry tree in the US which is used commercially  The early Appalachian pioneers used the ripe fruit to flavour their rum and brandy, giving rise to another name for the cherry - the rum cherry. It is also called the Mountain black cherry and the fruit is called black choke. Native American used these trees for medicinal purposes as well as for nutrition.                                                                                                                 

  The leaves contain prunasin (a cyanogenic glycoside) and when crushed emit a cherry-like aroma of cyanide. This is converted to hydrogen-cyanide, which, in small amounts can stimulate the respiration and improve digestion. It has also been claimed that it is beneficial in the treatment of cancer. However in larger amounts in can cause respiratory failure and death. The seeds should not be eaten as these too contain the substance.

  The trees can produce cherries for a hundred years, and are fast-growing to about 90 feet and 50 feet wide, towering above the other trees such as the sugar maple and beech, in the forests where they grow. The fruit can be used to make pies, jellies and wine, as well as ice cream. They are used commercially to flavour soft drinks, in baked products and so on as well as to flavour vodka.

The root bark and inner bark were used by many Native Americans.These have astringent properties, and were used as infusions for diarrhoea, fever, coughs, colds, sore throats and many other ailments. The root bark and inner bark should be steeped in warm water and not boiled for an infusion as boiling destroys the medicinal properties. A tisane of the root bark and inner bark was used by many Native Americans in the fist stages of labour to ease the pains, as it has sedative properties. The fruit was used as a treatment for dysentery.                                                                                         

   A lotion made from the root bark was used as a wash to clean old wounds and sores. The fruits have antioxidant properties and are low in calories, although have a high natural sugar content.

  The wood from these wild cherry trees is beautiful when polished and is used for furniture, cabinet-making and for the interior finish of buildings. It is also used to make small items such as toys, as well as to make musical instruments. The wood is also used for smoking food to impart its own unique flavour.

  A green dye is obtained from the leaves, and the fruit will produce a dark-grey to green dye.

  The trees were introduced to Central Europe as ornamentals and now they are becoming invasive in forests in Germany, Belgium, France and The Netherlands. An instance of a North American tree being an invasive species; usually the US has invasive species from Europe causing havoc to its ecosystems and biodiversity.

STORK'S BILL, EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF STORK'S BILL

STORK’S BILL, ERODIUM CICUTARIUM  

Stork’s bill is a member of the Geraniaceae or geranium family, making it a relative of the wild geranium. It is native to Europe, including Britain, North Africa, the Himalayan region and Japan. It was introduced into North and South America by the Spaniards, and is now classed as an invasive weed. It grows to around two feet tall and flowers between June and September, with the seeds ripening between August and October.

  It is similar to the Crane’s bill (wild geranium) and in Britain it is sometimes called the Hemlock Stork’s Bill. (However it is not related to hemlock and does not have its toxic properties.)                                                                                                             

  The young leaves and stems may be eaten raw and added to salads, as they taste a little like parsley when young and tender. They can also be used like spinach and Kang Kong (water spinach), and may be added to soups stews and so on to enhance their flavour. Children often chew the root as you do chewing gum. It is best to harvest the leaves and root before the plant comes into flower. They can be used fresh or fried for later use, although you should check on the conservation status of the plant in your locality before uprooting them.

  The root and leaves are the main parts used in traditional medicine and breast-feeding mothers eat these to increase their milk flow. Externally the decoction of the root is used as an antidote to bites, and to soothe the pain from them; it is also useful for skin infections. In the past an infusion if the plant was used as a remedy for typhoid fever.

  If you suffer from rheumatism you may want to steep the leaves in your bath water to gain some relief from the pain.

  The plant is said to control bleeding (it’s haemostatic) and is used in Mexico to decrease the bleeding after child-birth, and to prevent infection. It has astringent properties as well as antioxidant ones. In Peru it is used by traditional healers to regulate blood pressure (both high and low).                     

  According to one study the plant may have some antiviral properties, but more research is needed.

  The tisane or infusion made from the root and leaves is used to reduce inflammation, and the hot moist leaves may be used in a poultice to reduce swelling.                                                         

  In the Bach Flower remedies the crane’s bill is used to relieve obsessive anxiety or worrying and for those who give disproportionate attention to trivial events and small problems. It is said to help them gain a wider and truer perspective on issues which to so many of us are routine events. It helps such people to spend less time worrying about things which they have blown up out of all proportion.

  When the Stork's bill is growing in arid conditions, the stem may be red, giving rise to the name the Red-Stem Stork's Bill, although if it is growing in more moist conditions it will have a green stem. A green dye is obtained from the whole plant.

  The plant is also called Pin clover or Pin grass (it is no relation to clover) because of its long, thin seed capsules. The seeds have a helix-shaped bristly hairs attached to them and these help them to be dispersed as they stick to the hair of goats and other browsing animals, and to birds’ feathers. The hair also has a corkscrew action which buries the seed in the ground. The hairs are also interesting as they twist or uncurl depending on the humidity in the atmosphere, making them one of nature’s barometers.