OAK
Quercus robur
COMMON NAMES: English oak, tanners bark.
FEATURES: Approximately eighty species of the beech family (Fagaceae) are native to the United States,
of which fifty-eight are trees. These forest trees vary in size according to the climate and soil. The
pubescence of the leaves and twigs consists of fascicled hairs that are intricately branched. The April
flowers appear with, or after, the leaves and later develop into the cup of the fruit known as the acorn. In
some areas, Native Americans would gather 500 pounds per family, which was a year’s supply. These
were stored and later used for bread, pudding, soup, etc., prepared fresh from the ground acorn. White
oak (Quercus alba) bark is chiefly used in medicine. It has a brownish color, is faintly odorous, very
astringent, slightly bitter.
MEDICINAL PARTS: Bark, acorn.
SOLVENTS: Alcohol, water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Astringent, tonic, hemostatic, antiseptic.
USES: A decoction of acorns and bark added to milk and taken internally resists the forces of poisonous
medicines, or when the bladder becomes ulcerated by taking them and shows voidance of bloody urine.
The bark is an agent in chronic diarrhea, chronic mucous discharges, passive hemorrhages, and wherever
an internal astringent is required. White oak (Quercus alba) bark as an infusion is best known as a goiter
remedy, and is still being used for excess of stomach mucus, which causes the common complaint of sinus
congestion, postnasal drip, etc. It relieves the stomach by paving the way for better internal absorption
and secretion, thus improving metabolism. The distilled water of the buds before they become leaves can
be used either externally or internally for inflammation, burning fevers, and infections; also used for
leukorrhea, womb troubles, hemorrhoids, and prolapsed rectum (sitz bath). The oak bark tea acts like a
resin in a strengthening way on the outer vessels; often dangerous fistules on the rectum are dissolved and
healed by this method, occasionally by using the diluted tea as a colonic.