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Magnolia

Scientific Names


• Magnolia glauca L.
• Magnoliaceae
• Magnolia family

Common Names

Beaver tree
Holly bay
Indian bark
Red bay
Red Laurel
Swamp laurel
Swamp sassafras
Sweet bay
Sweet magnolia
White bay
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Parts Usually Used

Bark
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Magnolia is an evergreen tree; it has smooth, ash-colored bark and soft, leathery leaves which are alternate, elliptical, glossy bright green on op, and pale underneath. The large, distinctive flowers are cream-colored and appear from May to August.

Other varieties: Cucumber Magnolia (M. acuminata); Sweetbay (M. virginiana); (M. tripetata); (M. lilifora); (M. conspicua) known to the Chinese as Hsin-i; and (M.officinalis).
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Where Found

Found in the Atlantic and Gulf coast states.
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Medicinal Properties

Astringent, diaphoretic, febrifuge, stimulant, tonic, aromatic, antiperiodic
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Uses

Magnolia bark is good for dyspepsia, heart trouble, high blood pressure, dysentery, diarrhea, intermittent fever, rheumatism, erysipelas, and other skin diseases. It can be made into a douche for leukorrhea. Some people have been cured of the tobacco habit by drinking magnolia bark tea. Magnolia bark can be substituted for Peruvian bark, as a safer remedy. It can do the work of quinine with no after effects. This herb can be taken for long periods without any ill effects.
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Formulas or Dosages

Gather the bark in spring and summer.

Decoction: use 1 tsp. bark with 1 cup water. Take 1 cup a day.

For external use, simmer 1 tbsp. bark in 1 pint water for 10 minutes.
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Bibliography

The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Back to Eden, by Jethro Kloss; Back to Eden Publishing Co., Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994

Chinese Medicinal Herbs, compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.

Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Herbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition

The Complete Medicinal Herbal, by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993

Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992

Secrets of the Chinese Herbalists, by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Company, Inc., West Nyack, NY, 1987.

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984

The Rodale Herb Book, edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

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