Herb. No. 126 · Ulmaceae
Eastern North American elm of rich woods and river terraces.
Native · North America
Native Also grown
LegalGentleplant
Slippery elm
Ulmus rubra
The mucilaginous inner bark of an American elm — a slippery tea for a raw throat and a raw gut.
Slippery elm is Ulmus rubra of eastern North America. The inner bark, powdered, makes a bland, slippery gruel and lozenge that traditional North American and Eclectic medicine used for sore throat, cough, and irritated gut. This plate is a purchased powder or a tree you planted; stripping wild elms is how a soothe becomes a conservation problem.
Flavor
Bland, maple-sweet, slippery — more texture than taste. Cinnamon helps the cup.
Parts used
Inner bark (powder)
Helpful
- Genuinely demulcent
- Food-like
Cautions
- Wild harvest pressure
- Can slow absorption of medicines taken at the same time