Western Herbalism
Black willow
Salix Nigra
Also known as Pussy willow, Swamp willow, Gulf black willow, Nigra.
Salix nigra, black willow, is a fast-growing willow native to riverbanks, floodplains and other wet ground across eastern and central North America. Both the astringent bark and the fresh flowering catkins (aments) have been used medicinally; the bark shares the salicin-bearing, anti-inflammatory character common to the willow genus, while the fresh aments were singled out by the Eclectic physicians of the nineteenth century for a distinct, more specialized use in calming overactivity of the reproductive organs. It holds a narrow but well-defined place in the Eclectic materia medica, valued chiefly for genitourinary irritability rather than as a general analgesic.
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Indications what the tradition reached for it in
- Spermatorrhea
- Sexual erethism and overexcitability
- Nocturnal emissions without organic lesion
- Priapism
- Ovarian irritability and nymphomania (historical use)
- Restlessness with genital irritation
- Mild rheumatic pain
- Low grade fever
- Simple diarrhea (bark, astringent)
- General debility of the reproductive organs following overstimulation
Specific indications
Irritable urethra with spermatorrhea and constant low-grade sexual excitement, especially in young men
Persistent nocturnal emissions or priapism without demonstrable organic disease
Safety
Low dose botanical. Used in drop doses in the classical practice; not a plant to dose freely.
The record lists 4 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.
In practice
The bark of black willow behaves much like other willow barks: astringent, mildly anti-inflammatory, and useful where a gentle salicylate-bearing remedy is wanted for low-grade aches, feverishness or loose stools.
Dosing as the sources wrote it
| Preparation | As written | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh ament tincture (1:2, fresh plant) | 0.5-2 mL three times daily | 0.5-2 mL |
| Bark tincture (1:5) | 2-4 mL three times daily | 2-4 mL |
| Bark decoction | 2-4 g dried bark daily, divided doses | 2000-4000 mg |
| Specific Salix Nigra Aments | Dose, from ten to sixty minims. | 0.62-3.7 mL |
| Dose, 10 to 60 drops. | 0.2-1.2 mL | |
| The dose is from 10 to 60 drops, 3 or 4 times a day. | 0.2-1.2 mL |
Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.
From the sources
Overview. Salix nigra, black willow, is a fast-growing willow native to riverbanks, floodplains and other wet ground across eastern and central North America. Both the astringent bark and the fresh flowering catkins (aments) have been used medicinally; the bark shares the salicin-bearing, anti-inflammatory character common to the willow genus, while the fresh aments were singled out by the Eclectic physicians of the nineteenth century for a distinct, more specialized use in calming overactivity of the reproductive organs. It holds a narrow but well-defined place in the Eclectic materia medica, valued chiefly for genitourinary irritability rather than as a general analgesic.
Clinical Notes. The bark of black willow behaves much like other willow barks: astringent, mildly anti-inflammatory, and useful where a gentle salicylate-bearing remedy is wanted for low-grade aches, feverishness or loose stools.
Action and Therapy. Salix nigra is a remedy of great value in a restricted field in therapeutics. While the bark and its preparations have long been recognized as possessing antiseptic and detergent properties, the use of the aments is of more recent date and confined almost wholly to the generative organs.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage. Gently stimulant, diaphoretic, and astringent. Used in warm infusion wherever a stimulating diaphoretic is required; also in diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera infantum, etc. In decoction or syrup it forms an excellent tonic to restore the tone of the bowels, after an attack of dysentery. Said to have been used in gravel and female obstructions. Oil of birch will produce a drunken stupor, vomiting, and death. It has been used in gonorrhoea, rheumatism, and chronic skin diseases. Dose, 5 to 10 drops.
Drawn from Scudder's Specific Medication and Specific Medicines; King's American Dispensatory, 18th edition (Felter and Lloyd); Ellingwood's American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy; Felter's Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the Bountiful Herbs editorial.
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Blackend swallowwortVincetoxicum atratumThe whole plate is in the library. The compass, Compare, the Sky of eleven hundred plants and the formulary open with an email address and a password, free, with the formula builder and its safety engine. Herbert without limit, his formulating, clients, the handouts and the labels are the paid room.
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