Littleflower's

Alder (Alnus species) Josselyn reported in 1672 that "an Indian, bruising and cutting of his knee with a fall, used no other remedy than alder-bark, chewed fasting, and laid to it; which did soon heal it." He pronounced a decoction of alder "also excellent, to take the fire out of a burn or scald."  FFind more photos from the University of Connecticut Plant Database

"Common alder" was an Onondaga remedy for ague (high fever with chills) and inflammation. The Penobscots boiled the bark of alder species in water to make a drink to stop cramps and retching, while the Montagnais boiled the twigs and drank the brew for impure blood." The same tribe steeped red-alder bark for an infusion to stop cholera (a disease marked by severe gastrointestinal symptoms). Speck also reported the use of alder by the Catawbas for children's constipation. The Potawatomis scraped the inner bark of speckled alder (alnus incana (L.) Moench) and used the juice to rub the body to cure itch. A bark tea was made for flushing the vagina and to make rectal application with a homemade syringe, to shrivel anal muscles, and to cure piles. Potions of bark tea were drunk to cure flux (diarrhea), and the powdered inner bark was used to sprinkle upon galled spots of ponies (sores from excessive irritation or friction). The Meskwakis boiled the bark of the same species and gave the decoction to children with bloody stools. The Menominees used the inner bark for poultices to reduce swellings, and an infusion of bark was given to solidify loose mucus in a cold and for a wash in sores. It was considered astringent and healing. A infusion of the inner bark of smooth alder (A. rugosa) was used in the tribe as an alterative. The Delawares once chewed the bark of this species for a poultice.

Brickell (1737) reported that the leaves and bark of black alder were cooling and binding and were used in "hot Swellings and Ulcers in the Body." Barton, mentioning black alder under the names of Virginia winterberry (prinos verticillatus L. and Prino Gronovii Michx.), reported that the bark was astringent, bitter and pungent; that the berries were bitter: that it was long a popular remedy, ordinarily employed as a decoction in intermittent fevers, dropsy, and gangrene, in the last of which it had "great efficacy." It was also given internally, and externally as a wash.

Dr. Porcher held that the berries were tonic and astringent and were used in intermittent fever and diarrhea, while the leaves were a substitute for tea. Dr. Clapp added that it was useful, externally and internally, in decoction or infusion, for diseases of the skin, "especially those of the herpetic kind." Wooster Beach found a decoction of black-alder bark good for worms and "to purify the blood." He claimed that a minister was cured by this remedy from a lung infection which rendered him unable to preach.