Bullrush juice

[Toddy]

I've been tidying up my desk :o :rolleyes:, it's a coup, and it's been a coup for far too long. Anyway, I've come across one of the little cards I use to note down something that's caught my interest and I intend to find out more about.
This one says, "Bullrush juice, anaesthetic, looks like Aloe Vera"
and I can't mind a damn thing about it :dunno:

I wouldn't have written bullrush, I'd have specified what type of rush, if it were my own notes, so I've found this somewhere else.

Anyone any ideas ? or have tried it ?

cheers,
Toddy

[Deck]

Toddy

The following link might be of use? Looks like the roots are used in Chinese medicine.

http://www.shamanshop.net/store/proddetail.cfm/ItemID/715873.0/CategoryID/17000.0/SubCatID/3990.0/file.htm

[Toddy]

Thanks for the link :) I've had a look, but no, that's not the one that I'm looking for.
Bullrush kind of implies one of the varieties with the tight cigar shaped seed head, not burrs.

cheers,
Toddy

[Nagual]

Not much use, but found this


One of the ingredients of Shixiao San is puhuang, the pollen from the well-known plant called cattail, so-named because of its long, round shoot that is about the width of a cat's tail. This plant (see Figure 1) grows in marshes and has a hollow stem, similar to a rush, and is often referred to as the bulrush. The Chinese name for rush type plants is pu; the pollen is bright yellow (huang), yielding the Chinese name puhuang. The botanical names of the main plant sources are Typha latifolia and Typha angustifolia, so the common names given for this herb include typha, bulrush, or cattail pollen. Little is known about it chemical constituents and pharmacology, other than the fact that it is rich in flavonoids, a group of compounds that have been associated with improving blood circulation...

from http://www.itmonline.org/arts/pain.htm

Mark.

edit: and this : http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/576588-Cat-tail-cordage

[Toddy]

Thanks Mark, but the pollen makes good flour :D It's one of my seasonal treats and I haven't noticed any numbing effects.

If you want to try it, find rushes in a couple of months when the heads fill up yellow. Gently bend the stem into a paper bag and kind of rattle it about. Result loads of pollen :D and the plant is undamaged and will still send some pollen out to do it's business :approve: The pollen is protein rich and can be added to ordinary flour and used for bread, bannock, cakes, etc., or just added as is to stew.


Doc Canada's bit on the female flower head though.....
" FIRST AID USES: - female flower head used as a wound dressing
- leaves used as styptic, anaesthetic, antibiotic, antiseptic (sticky juice
between young leaves)
- pasty starch has soothing effect on Poison Ivy and burns
- pasty starch, mixed with fat - salve for dressing burns
- rootstalk tea - small palmful of rootstalk flour to one cup of hot water
controls diarrhea "

I think it's maybe time for a wee investigation :D

cheers,
M

[decorum]

Talk about a well timed thread ~ I stumbled across a couple of stands yesterday that _almost_ count as a backyard find (a quarter mile round trip instead of three).

Good stuff to know :cool: .

goodjob