Poplar Black, Or Osokor.

Poplar Black, Or Osokor

Tree of the willow family up to 25 m high. The bark is dirty gray, wide, spreading. The leaves are alternate, long-petiolate, almost triangular, serrated along the edge.

The apical buds are pointed, layered, serrated. The tree is dioecious. It blooms in March - May before the leaves bloom.

The flowers are small, collected in earrings. The fruit is a capsule with small seeds. Ripens in April - June.

Black poplar is common in the European part of Russia, Western and Eastern Siberia and Central Asia. It grows in floodplains of rivers, along the shores of lakes, on pebbles and sandbanks. They are used for landscaping parks, gardens, streets and populated areas, rapid afforestation of steppe areas and strengthening ravines.

The wood is used to make containers, cooperage products, matches, paper and artificial silk. The bark is used for tanning and dyeing leather yellow, and fabrics yellow, chestnut, chocolate and brown.

The leaves and bark have phytoncidal properties.

Apple and pear trees treated with an infusion of poplar leaves become more resistant to diseases during the growing season, and the fruits are less affected by pests and are better stored. The leaves are used for tanning leather and dyeing fabrics yellow, as well as in the perfume industry to flavor toilet soaps, and are used fresh to feed livestock. They can be dried for the winter for cows and horses.

It is a good honey plant. Bees use glue from their buds to produce propolis.

The medicinal raw materials are the buds, bark and leaves.

The buds are collected in the spring, from thin branches, before the leaves bloom, dried in a ventilated area and dried in the sun or in a dryer at a temperature of 35–40°C. The bark is collected in early spring from felled trees or sawed branches when cultivating plantings.

The kidneys contain carbohydrates, organic acids (malic, ascorbic, benzoic, etc.), essential oil, phenol carbonic acids, phenol glucosides, chalcones, flavonoids, leuco-anthocyanins and fatty oil. Alkaloids, phenol glucosides, flavsnoids, tannins and higher hydrocarbons were found in the bark; isoprenoids, carotenoids, alkaloids, organic and phenol carboxylic acids, phenol glucosides, lignans and tannins were found in the leaves.

Poplar preparations have anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipruritic, astringent, antimicrobial, sedative, antipyretic, iotogonic and wound-healing effects.

Tincture of poplar buds, prepared with 40% alcohol in a ratio of 1:10, is used for tuberculosis, rheumatism, gout, intermittent fever, inflammation of the bladder, colds and scanty menstruation in women. Take it 20-30 drops 3-4 times a day with meals.

Kidneys boiled in vegetable oil in a ratio of 1:10 have an analgesic effect in case of urolithiasis. Take 1 teaspoon of oil 3 times a day with meals.

An infusion of well-steamed fresh buds has a positive effect in cases of damage to nerves and tendon ligaments.

To prepare it, pour 1/3 cup of raw material into 1 cup of boiling water and cover with a warm cloth. The drug is applied to the affected area. The bandage is changed every day.

Ointment from poplar buds is used externally for gout, joint disease, trichomonas colpitis, boils, purulent wounds, burns, hemorrhoids, severe itching, cracked lips and nipples, and staphylococcal and fungal skin diseases. To prepare it, 3 tablespoons of well-chopped kidneys are gradually mixed with 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Store in the refrigerator for 5 days.

To prepare an infusion of buds and leaves, pour 2 tablespoons of one or another crushed raw material into 1 glass of hot water, boil over low heat for 5 minutes, leave in a warm place for 1 hour, and so on.