White Willow Products
Since the ancient period the bark from the White Willow tree has been known for being effective in reducing symptoms from common bodily complaints. In its pure natural form Indigo Herbs offers you this highly effective ingredient in two distinct products; White Willow Bark Powder and White Willow Bark Tincture.
Texts found in ancient Egypt, Sumer and Assyria have shown that these civilisations had knowledge of White Willow bark and its properties. The Greek physician Hippocrates was probably the first to make this ingredient well known in around 400 BC. His prescription of chewing on the bark is the first illustration of white willow use and is similar to contempory consumption of common aspirin. The Chinese also knew of the use of white willow bark along with evidence suggesting some Native American tribes also collected bark of willow trees. During the Medieval period the use of the bark fell out of favour and nearly disappeared into obscurity. It wasn’t until 1763 that Reverend Edmund Stone in Oxford, England rediscovered white willow properties and popularized its use. Later in 1828 the pharmacist Henri Leroux and chemist Raffaele Piria successfully separated the active chemical constituent Salicin from White Willow bark and Aspirin was born.
The White Willow is a medium to large deciduous tree that can grow from 10-30 meters in height. It has grey to brown bark with a pale leaf that is slightly lighter than most other Willow trees because of a fine covering of white hairs. White Willow is dioecious meaning that there are both a female and male tree which are pollinated by insects. The flowers extend on catkins which eventually mature on the female tree into pods which contain many seeds that are covered in a fine fluffy down that aids dispersion on the wind.
