Rhus, Sumac

Sumach
Sumaq (Unani)
Picture Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491

Picture Picture
New Kreuterbuch, Matthiolus, 1563

 Medical Botany, Woodville, Hooker, Vol. 3, 1832
Picture Rhus coriaria
(Photo by Lazaregagnidze) (Wikimedia)

Picture SUMAC
Squibb’s Atlas of the Official Drugs, Mansfield, 1919

Botanical name:


Rhus spp.
R. parviflora, R. coriaria (European Sumac); some American species are used similarly

Parts used:


Seed

Temperature & Taste:


Cold, dry. Sour
“Cold in the Second and Dry in the Third degree” (Avicenna)

Classifications:


2O. ASTRINGENT
4e. STOMACHIC

Uses:


1. Clears Heat, Stops Leakage:
-bilious Diarrhea, Dysentery, Leukorrhea and all other indications for a cooling astringent.
-Polyuria and Diabetes. (Bark, fruit)
-said to lessen Sperm
-“Suitable for treating persons suffering from Chronic Diarrhea, intestinal Ulcers and Sprue”. (Avicenna)
   
2. Clears Heat, Stops Bleeding:
-Hemoptysis and Vomiting of Blood.
-Uterine Bleeding and excessive Menstruation
-Bleeding from the Stomach
-“Stops (excessive) Menstrual flow and Hemorrhage” (Avicenna)

3. Clears Stomach Heat:
-allays Choler [Bile]
-Nausea, Vomiting and Thirst associated with Stomach heat. (Bark, fruit)
-“It prevents the flow of bile towards the Viscera”. (Avicenna)
-“It relieves bilious Nausea” (Avicenna)
-“It quenches Thirst and improves appetite due to its Sour taste” (Avicenna)
    
4. Externally:
-decoction is used to strengthen the gums
-the gum put into Teeth stops Toothache
-bark powder or ashes are used in Tooth powders.
-decoction is used as a gargle for catarrh of the Pharynx
-powder is applied to unhealthy Ulcers
-“Sumac prevents spreading of Malignant Ulcers”. (Avicenna)
-also bleeding suppurating Hemorrhoids.
-bark infusion is used for viral Eyes diseases and Opthalmia.
-bark is bruised with water and applied to the forehead to stop Nosebleeds
-externally to resist Putrefaction and Gangrene
-“The decoction of Sumac which is used by tanners, Blackens the Hair.” (Avicenna)


Dose:


Powder: 2–4 grams

Correctives:


1. Aniseed
2. Fennel seed
3. Mastic

Substitutes:


1. Barberry and Valerian (Unani)
2. “Its concentrated decoction in water, which is as thick as honey, is useful in all those ailments in which the extract of Barberry is administred.” (Avicenna”
3. The Seed “is suitable for conditions in which Acacia and Rose are suitable” (Avicenna)
4. Unripe Mulberries (Dioscorides, Avicenna)

Preparation:


Vinegar prepared Sumac
  When steeped in Vinegar, then dried, it is more attenuant (Avicenna). This means it is more piercing and thinning, and better to cut through thick Humors. It also moderates it.

Main Combinations:


1. Diarrhea, Dysentery:
i. Sumac with Sorrel juice, Rose, Gall, Sandalwood, Gum Arabic, Tabasheer (as in Troches of Ramich of Mesue)
ii. Chronic Diarrhea, Sumac with Pomegranate flower, Acorn, Pomegranate, Indian Spikenard, Celery seed, Gall (as in Powder for Chronic Diarrhea of Nicholas)
iii. Diarrhea, Gastritis, Sumac with Long Pepper, Wormwood, Cyperus, Mastic, Red Coral, Pomegranate flower, Cinnamon (as in Powder to Warm and Bind the Belly of Roneletius)
iv. Sumac with Carob, Pomegranate flower, Gall, Indian Spikenard
v. Sumac with Tormentil, Couch Grass root, Pomegranate bark, Barberry, Deer horn shavings, decoct and add Honey. (Memorial Pharmaceutique, 1824)
2. Stomach Heat, Fever, Sumac with Rose, Tabasheer, Sorrel seed, Purslane seed, Coriander seed, Pomegranate flowers, Barberry (as in Troches of Spodium of Avicenna)
3. Diabetes, Sumac with Gum Arabic, Armenian Earth, Pomegranate flower, Gum Tragacanth, Lettuce seed, Purslane seed (as in Powder for Diabetes Greater)
4. Bleeding from Heat:
i. Sumac with Comfrey, Pomegranate rind, Dragons Blood, Armenian Earth, Rose, Tabasheer, Gum Arabic torrefied (as in Pilulae Styptica of Arnold de Villa Nova)
ii. Sumac with Talcum, Red Coral, Costus, Acacia, Rhubarb, Frankincense (Syrian ‘Book of Medicine‘, Budge, 1913)
5. Bleeding from the Stomach:
i. Sumac with Pomegranate flower, Rose, White Sandalwood, Frankincense, Sorrel seed, Alum, Amber (as in Powder to Stop Bleeding of the Stomach of Nicholas)
ii. Sumac with Amber, Red Coral, Pearl, Oyster shell burnt, Hematite burnt, Rose, Purslane, Coriander, Almond, Gum Arabic, Pomegranate flower, Tabasheer (as in Powder for Bleeding from the Stomach of Nicholas)
6. Bladder Ulcers, Sumac with Pomegranate flower, Horsetail, Myrtle berry, Rose, Tragacanth (Fuller)
7. Receding Gums, prepare a mouth wash of Sumac, Myrrh, Oak bark
8. Gingivitis, Sumac, Myrrh, Golden Seal, Licorice
9. A Gargle to expel “exudations of the Brain” (Rheum), Sumach, Long Pepper, Pyrethum, Marjoram, Ginger, Pomegranate seed (Syrian “Book of Medicine“, trans. by E.A. Wallis Budge, 1913_

Major Formulas:


Powder to Stop Bleeding of the Stomach (Nicholas)
Powder for Diabetes Greater (Unani)
Powder for Vomiting from Bile
Powder for Vomiting from Heat
Troches of Ramich (Mesue)
Troches of Spodium (Trochisci Spodii) (Avicenna)
Electuarium Acharistum (Nicholas)

Cautions:


1. Not used in those with Cold Stomach or Liver.

Main Preparations used:



  • Extra Info
  • History
Pliny on Sumac:
‘Nor yet has the tree called “rhus” any Latin name, although it is employed in numerous ways. Under this name are comprehended a wild plant, with leaves like those of myrtle, and a short stem, which is good as an expellent of tapeworm; and the shrub which is known as the “currier’s plant,” of a reddish colour, a cubit in height, and about the thickness of one’s finger, the leaves of which are dried and used, like pomegranate rind, for curing leather.

‘Medical men also employ the leaves of these plants for the treatment of contusions, and for the
 cure of cceliac affections, and of ulcers of the rectum and phagedamic sores; for all which purposes they are pounded with honey and applied with vinegar. A decoction of them is injected for suppurations of the ears. With the branches, boiled, a stomatice [medicine for the mouth] is also made, which is used for the same purposes as that prepared from mulberries; it is more efficacious, however, mixed with alum. This preparation is applied also to reduce the swelling in dropsy.’ (The Natural History of Pliny, trans. by Bostock and Riley, Vol. 5, 1856)