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Bearberry | | Name : | Bearberry | | Botanical : | Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi | | Synonyms : | Arberry
Bear's grape
Kinnikinnick
Mealberry
Mountain box
Mountain cranberry
Red bearberry
Sagackhomi
Sandberry
Upland cranberry
Uva Ursi
| | Family : | Ericaceae | | Parts Used : | Leaves | | Habitat : | Found in dry, sterile, sandy or gravely soil, exposed rock.Arctic to northern United States. Also found in Europe and Mexico.Found in 3,000-9,000 foot altitudes. | | Description : | The much-branched trailing stems are short and woody, covered with a pale brown bark, scaling off in patches, and form thick masses, 1 to 2 feet long. The long shoots rise obliquely upward from the stems for a few inches and are covered with soft hairs
The evergreen leaves are of a leathery texture, from 1/2 inch to an inch long, like a spatula in form, being rounded at the apex and tapering gradually towards the base to a very short stalk or petiole. The margin is entire and slightly rolled back and the young leaves fringed with short hairs. The upper surface of the leaf is dark, shining green, the veins deeply impressed, the lower side is of a paler green, with the veins prominent and forming a coarse network. The leaves have no distinctive odour, but they have a very astringent and somewhat bitter taste.
The pretty waxy-looking flowers are in small, closely-crowded, drooping clusters, three to fifteen flowers together, at the ends of the branches of the preceding year, appearing in early summer, May - June, before the young leaves. The corolla, about two-thirds inch across, is urn-shaped, reddish white or white with a red lip, transparent at the base, contracted at the mouth, which is divided into four to five short reflexed, blunt teeth, which are hairy within. There are ten stamens, with chocolate-brown, awned anthers. The berry, which ripens in autumn, is about the size of a small currant, very bright red, smooth and glossy, with a tough skin enclosing an insipid mealy pulp, with five one-seeded stones. | | Constituents : | The chief constituent of Bearberry leaves is a crystallizable glucoside named Arbutin. Other constituents are methyl-arbutin, ericolin (an ill-defined glucoside), ursone (a crystalline substance of resinous character), gallic acid, ellagic acid, a yellow colouring principle resembling quercetin, and probably also myricetin. Tannin is present to the extent of 6 to 7 per cent. On incineration, the leaves yield about 3 per cent. of ash. | | Uses : | In consequence of the powerful astringency of theleaves, Uva-Ursi has a place not only in all the old herbals, but also in the modern Pharmacopoeias. There are records that it was used in the thirteenth century by the Welsh 'Physicians of Myddfai.' It was described by Clusius in 1601, and recommended for medicinal use in 1763 by Gerhard of Berlin and others. It had a place in the London Pharmacopoeia for the first time in 1788, though was probably in use long before. It is official in nearly all Pharmacopceias, some of which use the name Arbutus.
The usual form of administration is in the form of an infusion, which has a soothing as well as an astringent effect and marked diuretic action. Of great value in diseases of the bladder and kidneys, strengthening and imparting tone to the urinary passages. The diuretic action is due to the glucoside Arbutin, which is largely absorbed unchanged and is excreted by the kidneys. During its excretion, Arbutin exercises an antiseptic effect on the urinary mucous membrane: Bearberry leaves are, therefore, used in inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract, urethritis, cystisis, etc.
Besides the simple infusion (1 OZ. of the leaves to 1 pint of boiling water), the combination of 1/2 oz. each of Uva-Ursi, Poplar Bark and Marshmallow root, infused in 1 pint of water for 20 minutes is used with advantage.
The tannin in the leaves is so abundant that they have been used for tanning leather in Sweden and Russia.
An ash-coloured dye is said to be obtained from the plant in Scandinavian countries.
The berries are only of use as food for grouse. Cattle, however, avoid the plant. | | Dosage : | Fall is the best time to pick the leaves.Only the leaves are harvested, which is possible year-round, but should not begin harvesting them until the first blooms.
Infusion: soak the leaves in alcohol (not rubbing alcohol) or brandy, then add 1 tsp. soaked leaves to 1 cup boiling water.Drink 2-3 cups per day, cold.You can let the leaves soak in brandy for a whole week before making the infusion with water and add a tsp. of the brandy to each cup of infusion.Do not boil this herb.Just steep in boiling-hot water.
Dried herb:mix 1 tbsp. in 8 oz. warm water.Drink 1 cup daily.
Tincture: take 10 to 20 drops in water, 3 to 4 times per day. | | Safety : | Contains arbutin, which hydrolyzes to the toxic urinary antiseptic hydroquinone.Use should be under medical supervision.Bearberry can lead to stomach distress, and prolonged use can produce chronic poisoning. High doses may cause nausea. | | Myths : | Native Americans used bearberry, or kinnikinnick as they called it, in their ceremonial pipe in place of tobacco.The Arikaras cultivated sacred tobacco and mixed it with bearberry dried leaves and the dried inner bark of red dogwood.Some Native American tribes mixed tobacco with bearberry to make a milder smoke.
The pipe-stem of the Plains Indians was made of golden sumac, a sumac which used to grow close by the pipestone quarry.This stem was about 24 inches long and an inch wide, but quite thick, flat like a carpenter's pencil.This is the way the hole through the stem was made.Gathering the sumac in Spring when the sap was up in the large pith, some meat or fish was put out where blowflies could work on it.When large maggots were on the meat, the piece of sumac which had previously been put in a can of oil or bear grease, was brought in.As the large pith had taken up the oil, it was soft, and quite a bit was dug out.The maggots were then sealed up in the stem, to either eat their way through, or die.Sometimes they did both, but there was plenty of time to do it all over again, patiently, till a long perfect hole was drilled through.
The use of bearberry as a folk remedy for urinary tract infections has been validated by modern research showing that this herb is an effective treatment for bladder and kidney ailments. | | Sold : | Capsules:take 1 for up to 3 times daily to relieve symptoms. |
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