Flowering dogwood

Para qué se usa

• Malaria

  Limitada

  The Houma took a decoction of the root or bark for malaria. Eclectic physicians and Confederate army supply officers used the bark in place of cinchona or quinine. When Graziose et al. (2012) fractionated the bark, the compounds they isolated were only moderately active against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro (best IC50 about 10 µM). The authors said this does not fully explain the bark's historical reputation. No human trials were found.^1,2,3,4

• Fiebre

  Tradicional

  Cherokee healers used the root bark as a febrifuge, and the Houma drank a decoction of root or bark scrapings for fever. King's American Dispensatory (1898) recommends the dried bark for periodic and typhoid fevers. Nineteenth-century writers also say twigs were chewed to prevent fevers.^1,2,5

• Diarrea

  Tradicional

  The Cherokee took a compound infusion for diarrhoea, and the Rappahannock drank an infusion of the root bark. The bark contains about 3% tannin, according to 19th-century analyses cited in King's.^1,2

• Lombrices intestinales

  Tradicional

  Cherokee healers gave children an infusion of the bark for worms and also used it as a bath. A compound infusion of bark and root was used for childhood illnesses such as worms and measles.¹

• Heridas y cortes

  Tradicional

  The Cherokee used the root bark on wounds, in poultices and as an antiseptic astringent, and put a poultice of the bark's ooze on ulcers. Nineteenth-century writers called the root bark antiseptic for ulcers.^1,5

• Dolor de cabeza

  Tradicional

  The Cherokee chewed the bark for headache. King's American Dispensatory lists it for 'headaches from quinine'.^1,2

• Dolor de garganta

  Tradicional

  Cherokee healers gave a decoction of the inner bark to loosen phlegm in hoarseness, and an infusion of the inner bark for 'lost voice'.¹

• Tónico general

  Tradicional

  The Delaware, Cherokee and Rappahannock used the root or root bark as a tonic, and the Rappahannock also used it 'to purify the blood'. King's calls the bark tonic, astringent and slightly stimulant, for use in general exhaustion.^1,2

Cómo se prepara

Las cantidades son las que registra la fuente citada, no una recomendación.

Seguridad

En las tradiciones curativas

• Indigenous North American

  Kănûsĭ΄tă (Cherokee); flowering dogwood

  Cherokee: bark chewed for headache; infusions of bark and root for diarrhoea, worms and childhood illnesses, and as a bath after 'poisons of any kind'; flower infusion 'to sweat off flu' and for colic; root bark used as a febrifuge, a tonic, and on wounds and ulcers; bark infusion taken by women for backache. Houma: decoction for fever and malaria. Delaware: root used as a tonic. Rappahannock: root bark for diarrhoea, as a tonic and as a blood purifier. Iroquois: compound decoction of stems and roots for 'blood chills'.

  Hamel & Chiltoskey, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses (1975); Speck, Houma plant curatives (1941); Tantaquidgeon, Delaware folk medicine (1942, 1972); via the Native American Ethnobotany Database

• Western herbalism

  Cornus (Dogwood bark)

  Eclectic physicians used the dried bark as a tonic and antiperiodic and as a substitute for Peruvian (cinchona) bark in intermittent fevers, especially when quinine could not be given. They also used it for headache caused by quinine and for general exhaustion. Country people made the ripe berries into bitters with brandy or whiskey, and the flowers were sometimes used in place of chamomile.

  Felter & Lloyd, King's American Dispensatory (1898); Scudder's specific indications

Compuestos activos

cornin (cornine)

bitter iridoid glucoside; Geiger isolated it from the root bark in 1836, and it was re-isolated from the leaves in 2014

betulinic acid and 3β-O-coumaroyl betulinic acids

bark triterpenoids; the coumaroyl esters inhibited P. falciparum in vitro (IC50 10–15 µM)

3-epideoxyflindissol

bark triterpenoid; antileishmanial in vitro (IC50 1.8 µM)

cornusoside A and cornolactones A–D

leaf iridoids; not cytotoxic to the cell lines tested at 100 µM

tannins

about 3% of the bark in 19th-century analyses; these explain its astringency

Historia

King's American Dispensatory records that dogwood bark was used heavily during the American Revolution as a substitute for Peruvian bark. During the Civil War, quinine was scarce and expensive, so Confederate medical supply officers issued dogwood, willow and tulip-tree preparations in its place; contemporaries thought these useful but less effective than quinine. In 1804 Alexander von Humboldt noted the bark as a tanning agent.

Fuentes

1. 1.Native American Ethnobotany Database (BRIT): Cornus florida L., 33 uses
2. 2.Felter HW, Lloyd JU. King's American Dispensatory (1898): Cornus.—Dogwood (Henriette's Herbal transcription)
3. 3.Hasegawa GR. Quinine substitutes in the Confederate army. Mil Med 2007 (abstract)
4. 4.Graziose R et al. Antiparasitic compounds from Cornus florida L. with activities against Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania tarentolae. J Ethnopharmacol 2012 (abstract)
5. 5.Baratto LC, Päßler U. Plants of the USA: recordings on native North American useful species by Alexander von Humboldt. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2024
6. 6.He Y et al. An iridoid glucoside and the related aglycones from Cornus florida. J Nat Prod 2014
7. 7.GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Cornus florida L. (IUCN Least Concern)

Referencia, no receta. Nada de esto es consejo médico. Las hierbas pueden interactuar con medicamentos y ser peligrosas en el embarazo; informa a tu médico o farmacéutico de todo lo que tomes.