Gray alder botanical description. Gray alder: description, photo of tree and leaves. Why doesn't it bloom

Syn.: eloha, oleshina, oleshina.

Deciduous tree, enriches the soil with nitrogen. For medical purposes it is used as an astringent.

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In medicine

Alder decoction is used for acute and chronic enteritis and colitis.

In dermatology, a decoction of the plant is used for atopic dermatitis, true, herpetiform and seborrheic eczema, as well as for hyperkeratosis and vasculitis.

For land reclamation

Alder is used to restore disturbed lands and to stabilize the slopes of ravines and screes. A tree, settling on barren land, improves it by enriching the soil with nitrogen. On the roots of alder there are actinomycete fungi, which accumulate nitrogen; the foliage of the plant is high-ash, nitrogen-containing and easily decomposed, and also contributes to soil formation.

Application of wood

Alder wood is very soft, homogeneous, turns red in the air, is well processed, but is not resistant to rotting. As a building material used in the interiors of buildings. It is used in the manufacture of carpentry, for the production of plywood, paper and matches.

Most often, alder is used for firewood. Previously, firewood from this tree was called royal, as it was used to heat the stoves in the royal chambers. Unlike other types of firewood, alder firewood does not produce soot and fumes, and in terms of warmth it is not much inferior to oak and birch.

Wood vinegar and charcoal are also obtained from alder wood. Alder firewood is used for smoking fish and meat delicacies.

Classification

The genus alder (Latin Alnus) includes deciduous trees and shrubs of the birch family (Latin Betulaceae). There are about 40 species of alder, growing mostly in the northern hemisphere.

Two types of alder are widely used in medicine:

    Gray alder (lat. Alnus incana (L.) Moench);

    Sticky alder, or black alder (lat. Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.).

Botanical description

Sticky alder (blue black)- a monoecious tree with dark brown bark; on young branches the bark is greenish-brown or reddish-brown, glossy. The leaves are alternate, rounded, with a serrated edge, dark green, with prominent veins below. Young leaves are very sticky. Height 10-30 m. Lives on average 150-300 years.

Gray alder- a monoecious tree with smooth gray bark, up to 20 m high. The root system is superficial. The leaves are alternate, broadly ovate, pointed, with a serrated edge, gray-green below, pubescent along the veins. It blooms two weeks earlier than black alder. Lives on average 50-70 years.

Sticky alder and gray alder have male inflorescences - catkins, female inflorescences - in the form of cones, which by autumn become woody and turn into infructescences. In the axils of the scales of female inflorescences, fruits - nuts - are formed. The flowering time of the plant is March-April. The fruits ripen in October and fall in February and March.

Spreading

Sticky alder found in the European part of Russia south of the taiga zone, distributed in the Crimea, the Caucasus, Western Siberia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Grows in damp places, banks and valleys of rivers and streams, along the banks of ponds, grassy swamps and bogs.

Gray alder found in forest and forest-steppe zones of the European part of Russia, in Western Siberia, less often in the Caucasus, grows in Belarus and Ukraine. It grows in the valleys of rivers and streams, often settling on abandoned arable lands, forming dense stands.

Regions of distribution on the map of Russia.

Procurement of raw materials

Alder fruits (Alni fructus) are used for medicinal purposes; they are often incorrectly called alder “cones,” as well as bark and leaves. For this purpose, pruners or knives are used to cut off the ends of thin branches with fruits, then they are torn off. Alder is often collected during logging. The collected raw materials are dried under sheds, in attics or in dryers at a temperature of 50-60ºС.

For medicinal purposes, the leaves of the plant are harvested in May-June, the bark in the spring, when it is separated from the wood.

Chemical composition

The beneficial properties of alder depend on the biologically active substances contained in it. Alder fruits contain tannins of the pyrogallic group, which include tannin (up to 2.5%) and gallic acid (about 4%). Glycosides, organic acids, steroids, coumarins, alkaloids and flavonoids are also found in the plant.

Tannins (2.3-3.5%), triterpene compounds were isolated from alder bark: glutinone ketone, taraxerol alcohol, triterpene glycosides, taraxerone and lupeol.

The leaves of the plant contain flavonoids (hyperoside, quercitrin), caffeic, protocatechinic and chlorogenic acids.

Pharmacological properties

A decoction of alder fruits has a pronounced astringent effect.

The astringent and disinfectant properties of alder fruits are due to the tannins of the plant. It has been established that “alder cones” also have an anti-inflammatory, desensitizing and hemostatic effect.

The tannins of the plant, forming a dense film on the surface of the intestinal mucosa due to interaction with proteins, protect the sensitive nerve endings from irritation and thereby cause a decrease in intestinal motility.

There are clinical observations of positive results in the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers with alder fruits. Also, a decoction of the plant helps reduce fermentation and putrefactive processes in chronic colitis accompanied by diarrhea.

When using tincture of alder fruits to treat dysentery, patients experienced positive dynamics: over 60% of patients quickly recovered. However, no harmful or side effects were observed.

Alder fruits are often used in conjunction with other medicinal plants that affect various stages of the onset and development of gastrointestinal diseases.

Infusion of fruit fruits and infusion of alder bark also has a diaphoretic, bactericidal and analgesic effect.

Due to the formation of a protective film on the wound surface, tannins have wound-healing, anti-inflammatory and bactericidal effects and are used in the treatment of wounds, burns, ulcers, etc. Externally, a decoction of alder fruits, leaves or bark is used in the form of phytoapplications. Plant preparations are sometimes rubbed into the scalp for seborrheic eczema as a tonic, itching, and anti-inflammatory agent.

Use in folk medicine

Alder is popularly called spruce, oleshina, oleshina. In Rus' it was considered a weed tree, as it grows among dense thickets of nettles and raspberries.

Alder is quite widely used in folk medicine. Decoctions, infusions and tinctures of the plant are used as an astringent for gastrointestinal diseases: dyspepsia, dysentery, enteritis, enterocolitis, colitis. Alder fruits with rhizomes of the snakeweed are included in the astringent gastric tea, which is used for gastritis, enteritis, accompanied by diarrhea.

Infusion of cones and infusion of bark are used as an astringent, hemostatic, anti-inflammatory and bactericidal agent for bleeding from the nose and gums, and externally for burns. Also, externally, a decoction of alder cones, leaves and bark of the plant is used for baths for allergic skin diseases, and as a lotion for weeping eczema.

A decoction of the bark, cones and an infusion of leaves is used for gout, articular rheumatism, malaria and colds. It is believed that foot baths made from alder leaves relieve the feeling of fatigue during long walks.

Historical reference

In Rus', crushed fresh alder leaves with water were used to treat paratraumatic eczema complicated by trophic ulcers.

Literature

1. State Pharmacopoeia of the USSR. Eleventh edition. Issue 1 (1987), issue 2 (1990).

2. State Register of Medicines. Moscow 2004.

3. Medicinal plants of the state pharmacopoeia. Pharmacognosy. (Ed. I.A. Samylina, V.A. Severtsev). - M., “AMNI”, 1999.

4. Mashkovsky M.D. "Medicines." In 2 volumes - M., Novaya Volna Publishing House LLC, 2000.

5. “Herbal medicine with the basics of clinical pharmacology”, ed. V.G. Kukesa. - M.: Medicine, 1999.

6. P.S. Chikov. “Medicinal plants” M.: Medicine, 2002.

7. Sokolov S.Ya., Zamotaev I.P. Handbook of medicinal plants (herbal medicine). - M.: VITA, 1993.

8. Mannfried Palov. "Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants". Ed. Ph.D. biol. Sciences I.A. Gubanova. Moscow, "Mir", 1998.

9. Turova A.D. "Medicinal plants of the USSR and their use." Moscow. "Medicine". 1974.

10. Lesiovskaya E.E., Pastushenkov L.V. "Pharmacotherapy with the basics of herbal medicine." Tutorial. - M.: GEOTAR-MED, 2003.

11. Makhalyuk V.P. "Medicinal plants in folk medicine." - M.: Niva Rossii, 1992.

12. Medicinal plants: Reference manual. / N.I. Grinkevich, I.A. Balandina, V.A. Ermakova and others; Ed. N.I. Grinkevich - M.: Higher School, 1991. - 398 p.

13. Plants for us. Reference manual / Ed. G.P. Yakovleva, K.F. Blinova. - Publishing house "Educational Book", 1996. - 654 p.

14. A.P. Efremov, I.A. Schröter, T.P. Osadchaya "Secret storerooms of nature." - M.O. Publishing house "Overley", 2001. - 160 p.

15. Medicinal plant raw materials. Pharmacognosy: Textbook. allowance / Ed. G.P. Yakovlev and K.F. Blinova. - St. Petersburg: SpetsLit, 2004. - 765 p.

16. V.F. Korsun, A.A. Kubanova, S.Ya Sokolov “Phytotherapy of allergic skin diseases.” Minsk, "Polymya". 1998.

17. Nosov A. M. Medicinal plants. - M.: EKSMO-Press, 2000. - 350 p.

18. Forest cosmetics: A reference guide / L. M. Molodozhnikova, O. S. Rozhdestvenskaya, V. F. Sotnik. - M.: Ecology, 1991. - 336 p.

19. Healthy skin and herbal remedies / Author: I. Pustyrsky, V. Prokhorov. - M. Machaon; Mn.: Book House, 200. - 192 p.

Incana (L.) Moench -

Family Betulaceae S. F. Gray - Birch trees

Gray alder Description

a large shrub or tree of the birch family up to 20 m high with smooth gray bark.

TO rona broadly ovate, the trunk is low, light gray, smooth, young shoots and leaves are light-haired, gray-tomentose. Naked, with resinous odorous glands, often sticky.

Leaves sharp, ovoid-elliptical, with a jagged edge, pointed at the apices, non-sticky, glabrous above, dark green, bluish-green below.

Flowers small, collected in earrings, dioecious, monoecious. Men's catkins are held on drooping branches, women's ones are short, pineal-shaped, almost sessile.

The fruit is a complex narrow-winged nut up to 5 mm long. The cones are almost black when ripe, up to 12 mm long.

It blooms in March - April, before the leaves bloom. By autumn, the female inflorescences turn into cones. It falls off in the 2nd year after sowing.

Spreading

Distributed in the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Western Siberia.

It grows in floodplains, swampy lowlands, hummocky swamps, forest edges, burnt areas, clearings, abandoned arable land, and quickly occupies empty spaces.

Growing

Agricultural technology

Highly winter-hardy (excellent), drought-resistant (good), almost not damaged by pests and diseases (good). It blooms annually in March - April, bears fruit in November - December in the south (good).

Shade-tolerant. It grows quickly and is less demanding on soil fertility and moisture than black alder.

Produces root shoots.

Soil-improving species (high-ash, nitrogen-containing foliage and the presence of nodule nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the roots).

Reproduction

Propagated by seeds, cuttings, root suckers.

Varieties

Alnus incana cv. Laciniata (Leske) Willd.

Chemical composition

All organs of alder contain tannins.

Active ingredients

Alder cones contain tannins, alkaloids, phenolcarboxylic acids, triterpenoids, flavonoids, fatty oil (black alder), higher aliphatic alcohols and steroids. Triterpenoids and tannins are found in the bark, vitamin C, carotene, phenol carbonic acids, tannins, flavonoids and anthocyanins are found in the leaves.

Gray alder Application

Alder wood is water-resistant, so it is used for the construction of long-lasting log houses for wells.

It is used to make spinning spools and shuttles.

In electrical engineering it serves as an insulating material.

The bark is used for tanning and dyeing leather black, red and yellow, cloth - red and yellow, wool - black, red and yellow, cotton - gray.

Alder enriches the soil with nitrogen.

Use in landscape design

Decorative with light bluish foliage and light gray trunk. Decorative durability 40-50 years.

Suitable for creating tall trimmed hedges, alleys, and in group plantings in parks and squares. Valuable as a forest reclamation species for afforestation of ravine slopes, strengthening and lining the banks of rivers, streams and lakes.

The decorative form of gray alder with dissected leaves Alnus incana cv. is very interesting for landscaping. Laciniata (Leske) Willd.

Quite winter-hardy and less moisture-loving species are of interest for testing in cultivation on the Lower Don: bearded alder (A. barbata C. A. Mey), Japanese alder (A. j"aponica (Thunb) Stend.), red alder (A. rubra Bong.) , wrinkled alder (A. rugosa (Du Roi) Streng.)

Medicinal use

The cones have an astringent, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antispasmodic, analgesic, and slight hemostatic effect.

Energy impact. Alder takes energy. Long-term exposure can cause headaches and disorders of the cardiovascular system, but alder can help relieve nervous tension and reduce pain.

Collection and processing of medicinal raw materials

The medicinal raw materials are fruits (cones), bark and leaves, and sometimes roots.

Infructescences from gray, sticky or black alder are collected in autumn and winter (until March), when they are completely lignified. Fallen raw materials are unsuitable for medicinal purposes.

Dry in the attic, under a canopy or in a dryer at a temperature of 50...60 ° C, laying out a layer of no more than 4-5 cm and turning over several times. Store in fabric bags or wooden containers for 3 years.

Alder bark is harvested during the period of sap flow during technical felling. Dry in an oven or dryer at a temperature of 40...50 °C. The finished raw material should break well and not bend.

The leaves are collected in early spring. Dry under a canopy or in a dryer, spreading it in a thin layer.

Application in official and folk medicine

Alder preparations have anti-inflammatory, astringent, hemostatic, diaphoretic and antimicrobial action, cause the death of simple organisms, reduce the tendency to develop allergies, including food allergies.

In practical medicine, an infusion of cones is used for stomach and duodenal ulcers, acute and chronic inflammation of the small and large intestines, and also as an anti-inflammatory and astringent agent to quickly stop diarrhea in adults and children that develops after eating poor quality food.

Externally, a decoction of the root and an infusion of alder fruits is prescribed as a lotion for burns, for rinsing with inflammation of the mouth and bleeding gums, as well as for nosebleeds.

A decoction of alder cones is indicated for rheumatic arthritis and colds. Baths with alder leaves relieve the feeling of fatigue in the legs after a long walk.

To prepare the infusion, pour 2 tablespoons of cones into 1 glass of hot water, boil over low heat for 15 minutes, cool at room temperature for 45 minutes and filter. Take 1/3-"/g glass 2-3 times a day 30 minutes before meals.

Recipes for various diseases

FLU
Pour 2 tablespoons of sulfur alder cones with 1 glass of hot water, boil in a sealed container for 15 minutes, let cool, strain. Take 1/3-1/2 cup 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals.
GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES
Pour 2 tablespoons of alder cones with 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 2 hours, strain. Take 1/2 cup
2-3 times a day.
Pour 1 tablespoon of crushed alder bark with 1 glass of boiling water, bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, leave for half an hour, strain. Take 1 tablespoon
3-4 times a day.
Shortness of breath, gout, colds
Pour 1 teaspoon of alder cones into 1/2 cup of vodka, leave for 15 days and take 20 drops 3 times a day.
DRUG POISONING
When taking various medications to relieve their possible harmful side effects, take 1/2 cup of alder cone decoction once a day.
LARYNGITIS
Pour 40 g of alder fruits with 1 glass of boiling water and leave. Pour 10 g of horse sorrel root with 1 cup of boiling water and boil. Mix the infusion and decoction and use for inhalation or rinsing.
COLD
Cover yourself with a heap of warm steamed alder leaves.

Pharmacotherapeutic group. Astringent.

Description of the plant

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Rice. 9.21. Gray alder

Alder fruit(alder “cones”) - fructus alni
Gray alder- alnus incana (l.) Moench
Sticky alder(Chernaya Island) - alnus glutinosa (l.) Gaertn.
Sem. Birch-betulaceae
Other names: oleshina, volkha, vilkha, eloha, elshina, oleshinnik, oleshnik.

Both species are tall shrubs or small trees up to 20 m tall (Fig. 9.21; 9.22).
They differ in the shape and edge of the leaves, the color of the bark and the shape of the fruit: gray alder has sessile “cones”, and o. sticky - on the stalks.

Gray alder

Gray alder has smooth, silver-gray bark.
The leaves are alternate, ovate or elliptic, wedge-shaped narrowed at the apex, sometimes somewhat pointed, sharply biserrate along the edge, dark green above, gray-green below, pubescent, especially along the veins, non-sticky.

Sticky alder

Sticky alder has dark brown bark with cracks, young branches are smooth, often sticky, reddish-brown. Leaves broadly obovate or almost rounded, blunt or notched at the apex, with a serrated edge. Young leaves are shiny, sticky, and fully developed - dark green, glabrous above, light green, almost glabrous below.
Flowers dioecious: staminate - in long catkins, pistillate - in short oval inflorescences, the perianth is reduced.
Fetus- a small nut with a narrow membranous wing.
Alder blooms in early spring before the leaves bloom, in March - April.
Green scales, covering the female flowers, grow by autumn, become woody, turn black and form infructescences - the so-called alder “cones”, which hang on the tree all winter.
Fruit ripen in September - October.

Alder composition

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Chemical composition of alder

Alder "cones" contain

  • 6-30% tannins, which include
    • alnitannins and
    • 2-3% gallotannin,
  • about 4% gallic acid,
  • ellagic acid,
  • triterpenoids,
  • steroids,
  • fatty oil (up to 16%),
  • higher fatty acids and
  • higher aliphatic alcohols.

Properties and uses of alder

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Pharmacological properties. Alder “cones” have astringent, anti-inflammatory and disinfectant properties.

Application. An infusion of alder fruit is prescribed for acute and chronic enterocolitis and dysentery as an adjuvant in treatment with antibiotics and sulfonamides. An infusion of alder “cones” helps reduce fermentation and putrefactive processes in chronic enterocolitis accompanied by diarrhea. A quick and sustainable treatment effect is ensured by the natural combination of tannin, triterpene compounds and flavonoids in alder fruits.

Spreading

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Spreading. Gray alder and o. sticky are common in the forest and forest-steppe zones of the European part of the country, in the Urals, and enter Western Siberia. There are separate locations in the Caucasus.

Habitat. Along forest edges, banks of rivers, streams, ravines, and the edges of swamps. Gray alder forms shrub thickets. Both species are moisture-loving plants.

Procurement and storage of raw materials

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Preparation. Raw materials are collected in the autumn-winter period (before early March). The lower short branches, together with the fruits, are cut off with pruning shears or shaken off the trees; “bumps” are clearly visible in the snow.

Security measures. It is not allowed to break branches or tear off alder fruits from them.

Drying. In attics or under eaves, as well as in air dryers. The raw materials are laid out in a thin layer, stirring occasionally.

Standardization. GF XI, issue. 2, art. 28.

Storage. In dry, well-ventilated areas. Shelf life: 3 years.

External signs of raw materials

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Rice. 9.22. Types of alder:
1 – o. gray - Alnus incana (L.) Moench;
2 – o. sticky - Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.;
3 – infertility.

Whole raw materials

Infructescences are ovoid or oblong in outline, arranged in several pieces on a common stalk or single, with or without stalks, with scales and fruits. On the hard axis of the infructescence there are numerous fan-shaped scales with a thickened, slightly lobed outer edge.
In the axils of the scales there are single-seeded, two-winged, flattened fruits - nuts. The length of the common stalk to the lower inflorescence is up to 15 mm, the length of the infructescence is up to 20 mm, the diameter is up to 13 mm.
Color fruits and branches are dark brown or dark brown. Smell weak. Taste astringent.

Crushed raw materials

Pieces of stalks, scales, fruit axes of various shapes and fruits passing through a sieve with holes 10 mm in diameter. Color ranges from light brown to dark brown. The smell is weak. The taste is astringent.

Microscopy of raw materials

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On the cross section of the axis The infructescence contains 5 or 6 closed collateral bundles, at the base of which there is a multicellular perimedullary zone.
Phloem deformed; Above the phloem there is mechanical tissue consisting of round or oblong cells.
On a cross section of a scale in the middle part, 5 closed collateral bundles are visible, consisting of xylem, a thin layer of deformed phloem and 3-5 rows of sclerenchyma located on both sides of the bundle.
Around the beams there is parenchyma of varying sizes, the cells of which are filled with phlobaphenes. The scales are covered with epidermis with a cuticle that is thicker on the outer side of the fruit.

Various types of alder have been known to mankind since ancient times, primarily as a valuable tree that was used on the farm to produce wood. The ancient Celts planted alder near settlements, considering it a talisman against ghosts, vampires and other evil spirits. In ancient times, alder was also a favorite tree of sorceresses, who dyed their hair a fiery color with alder wood. It was also believed that if you whistle into a pipe made of alder wood, you can calm the wind (Bodlak J., 1999). In the historical and ethnographic literature there is practically no data regarding the widespread use of various parts of alder in ancient medicine in most European countries. However, the use of alder in folk medicine of Slavic countries has been recorded.
The astringent properties of the bark of alder leaves and fruits were known back in the days of Kievan Rus. In particular, decoctions of alder bark were used to rinse the throat and mouth during inflammatory processes. Alder leaves were considered a good diaphoretic in medieval Russian medicine. In Russian folk medicine, alder has long been known as an effective remedy for treating colds. Quite original and popular in some regions of Russia was the method of treating colds with dry baths from fresh alder leaves. For this purpose, a large wooden barrel was filled with freshly picked alder leaves and covered with a blanket to keep the leaves warm. After that, a person with a cold was buried in such a barrel up to the waist or up to the neck and kept for an hour to warm up. Data from ethnographic studies provide information on the popularity of the above dry baths for rheumatism, gout and paralysis. In the past, Russian healers believed that foot baths made from alder leaves had the ability to relieve fatigue after a long walk.
In the famous Russian medical manual of the 19th century. “Healing book - herbal book by N. Grigoriev,” published in 1882, indicated that alder bark should be included in the list of Russian anti-fever drugs as an effective substitute for imported quinine bark. This herbal book contains the recommendation of the English doctor Murray, who advised applying fresh alder leaves to the nipples of mothers to enhance the secretion of milk from the breast. Some sources of literature from Russian ethnography provide information about the use of alder fruits (cones) and bark in Russian folk medicine for colitis and enterocolitis, which were accompanied by diarrhea, and for dysentery. In particular, prof. D. M. Rossiysky (1944) pointed out that remedies from the bark and cones of various types of alder were widely used in Russian folk medicine as an effective hemostatic agent. “The Complete True Common Russian Medicine Book,” published in Moscow in 1866, describes the original Russian method of treating warts using fresh alder wood. At the same time, cod the size of a match was planed from alder wood and heated over an open fire, leaving a quarter of the cod without fire. After a foamy liquid began to flow out of the cold end of the cod, it was smeared on the warts. This procedure had to be performed daily until the wart disappeared.
Various parts of alder were also widely used in Ukrainian folk medicine in the past. The effectiveness of folk treatment with alder remedies for many colds in Volyn and Polesie was indicated in their monographs by such famous Ukrainian folk herbalists as M. A. Nosal, I. M. Nosal and V. Komendar. Fresh alder leaves and a decoction of them were used in Ukrainian folk medicine for washing and in the form of compresses in the treatment of wounds and abscesses. In Polesie, a decoction or infusion of alder cones was used internally for gastrointestinal diseases. In the Poltava region, alder bark was part of the medicines that were used in the treatment of patients with venereal diseases (Boltarovich S., 1994). In modern Ukrainian folk medicine, alder fruits and bark in the form of decoctions and teas are used for dysentery, stomach pain, colds, pulmonary tuberculosis, gout, rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, hemorrhoids, as gargles for bleeding gums and nosebleeds and stomatitis, as well as for lotions and baths for wounds and ulcers on the skin, for scrofula, itchy rashes, burns and dermatitis.
In Poland, alder bark is used as a folk remedy for colds, fever, conjunctivitis, sore throat and bleeding. Powdered dry alder leaves are used as lotions for skin diseases.
In Belarus, a decoction of dried alder catkins is consumed orally and applied as a lotion to sore spots for childhood eczema and diathesis. In addition to sticky alder, remedies from bushy and pubescent alder were also used in folk medicine. In Japanese folk medicine, remedies from Japanese alder were used. There is evidence that bushy alder brooms are used to steam baths for rheumatism and colds. The bark of the pubescent alder is used in the form of lotions for rheumatism; a decoction of the fruits of this plant is used by the indigenous Nanais living in the south of Siberia to treat colds.
The peoples of the Russian Far East use a decoction of male inflorescences of fruticose alder to wash purulent wounds. Residents of Primorye made lard ointment from the bast parts of bushy alder wood, which they used to treat wounds. A decoction of Japanese alder bark was used in the past to stop postpartum hemorrhage in women giving birth (Schroter, 1975).
A decoction of the roots of bushy alder and a decoction of the roots of pubescent alder were used to treat scrofula, and a decoction of the infructescences was used for pneumonia and tuberculosis (Khvorost O.P. et al., 1984). An infusion of young branches of bushy alder is used for gonorrhea, and of sticky alder for syphilis (Voronina, 1952).
There is data on the use of sticky alder leaves and tints alder bark in the treatment of cancerous tumors (Gammerman, Semenova, 1959; Shimkunaite, 1964). In scientific medicine, during the Second World War, the fruits of gray and sticky alder began to be used in the form of galenic preparations in the former Soviet Union for the treatment of colitis, acute and chronic enterocolitis, for diarrhea and dysentery (Russian D. M., 1942; Chass, 1952), and also as a wound-healing agent (Hammerman A.F. et al., 1957). Aqueous extracts from the roots and fruits of alder were successfully used in the 50s by Professor D. M. Rossiysky in the treatment of acute and chronic enterocolitis, accompanied by diarrhea.
The positive effect of alder cone fruits was noted in the treatment of diarrhea in children.