|
FAlphabetical List of Plants & Trees
FBotanical Name Index
FEvergreen Trees
FDeciduous Trees
FShrubs & Vines
FWet Open Places
FWoods and Thickets
FDry Open Places
FGlossary
FSources Cited
FLinks
FShopping
FMore
great books on this subject can be found here,
or visit Indigenous Books
for a complete selection! Thank You.
|
| HPlants are
listed by common name |
FWe
Specialize in Native American Books,
Music
and
Art
Online |
| A
| B
| C
| D
| E
| F
| G
| H
| I
| J
| K
| L
| M
| N
| O
| P
| Q
| R
| S
| T
| U
| V
| W
| X
| Y
| Z |
|
 |
LARCH
TAMARACK Larix laricina and Abies larix;
Common
Names: Akemantak (Abnaki name meaning wood for
snowshoes). Black Larch. Red Larch. American
Larch. Juniper Cypress. Hackmatack.
Range:
Labrador, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edwards Island, Nova
Scotia to Alaska, north Yukon, Mackenzie delta, south to New Jersey,
Illinois, Minnesota, and West Virginia.
Habitat:
Swamps and bogs in Eastern North America
|
|
|
Description:
A non-evergreen coniferous tree of the Pine family, found
in the Northern Hemisphere. The needles of the larch have
characteristic radiating clusters. The Western larch (L.
occidentalis) of North America, achieves great height; its
wood is used for interior construction and cabinetmaking
and the American larch, or larch tamarack, is a source of
timber and is often cultivated for its beauty. This tree
has a straight slender trunk with thin branches that grow
to 100 feet high; the leaves are short, 1 or 2 inches
long, very fine. The cones are oblong with a few
rounded scales widening upward from 1/2 to 1 inch long and
are deep purple in color. Late in the autumn this
American native will provide a last display of bright
yellow foliage color. The soft needles color and drop
after many of the surrounding deciduous trees have lost
their leaves. Tamarack
prefers moist soils and dislikes hot weather. |
 |
 |
Medicine:
The bark used as a decoction is laxative, tonic,
diuretic and alterative, useful in obstructions
of the liver, rheumatism, jaundice and some
cutaneous diseases. A decoction of the leaves
has been used for piles, menorrhagia, diarrhea
and dysentery.
Dose:
2 tablespoons of the bark decoction.
Native
Use: In Alaska, young tamarack
stems are used for dogsled runners, boat ribs,
and fish traps. In northern Alberta, duck and
goose decoys are made from tamarack branches.
Indians use the roots for cordage, the wood for
arrow shafts, and the bark for medicine.
|
| The
Ojibwe crush the
leaves and bark of larch tamarack and use them
in the same manner as they use white pine.
The crushed leaves are applied to the forehead
to relieve a headache; also boiled, after which
they are put into a small hole in the ground and
a hot stone is placed therein to cause a vapor
to rise, which is inhaled to cure backache and
headache. The gum of the tree is used for
mending boats and the bark used for covering
wigwams and shelters. The inner bark,
fresh or dried is also chopped up fine and
applied to burns. This should be done in
the morning, washed off partially at night, and
renewed. The roots are used in weaving
bags and in sewing the edges of canoes. A
tonic tea is also made from the roots. The
Flambeau Ojibwe use
the dried leaves as an inhalant and fumigator.
Larch roots are used as sewing material...to sew
canoes with the. They also make bags from
the root fibers, which are considered especially
durable.
The bark
from both the trunk and the root is described by
the Menomini as
being pitchy and as equaling one man as a
medicine alone, without any help from any other.
It is used as a poultice when fresh and is
steeped to make a tea. This tea drives out
inflammation and generates heat. The water
is also given to horses to better their
condition from distemper.
The Forest
Potawatomi use the bark and leaves of the
Tamarack in just the same manner as the Menomini
do. They gather bark from both the root
and the trunk. The fresh inner bark is
used for poulticing wounds and inflammation
while the steeped bark becomes a medicinal tea.
It is also used as a horse medicine. They
mix the shredded inner bark with oats which are
fed to the animal and this makes his hide loose
so that it slips around when you pinch it.
The Tete
de Boule make a tea from the young
branches to use as a laxative.
The Micmac
and Malecite of
Canada use the bark for suppurating wounds,
colds, physical weakness, gonorrhea and
consumption.
The Penobscot's
of Maine make a plaster by evaporating a
decoction of the barks of this tree and the
American Beech to the consistency of an extract
and incorporating the pitch of the Norway
Spruce. The spruce was obtained by
stripping the bark from the trunk of the
standing tree and scorching the wood.
|
|
|
|
|
Submit
URL