The Black Alder-Tree

Frangula alnus

HRB-0009Entry “THE BLACK ALDER-TREE” in the 1850 textIn Culpeper’s 1652 first edition

Open in the Concordance

Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.

Substance of concernFresh bark brings violent vomiting and colic; Culpeper warns of it himself. The EMA accepts the dried bark for occasional constipation, short term (over 12, a week at most).EFSA: Glucofrangulin A, Glucofrangulin B, emodin anthron and 1 moreEFSA’s list of substances, not a danger rating. Checked 26 October 2026.

Historical correspondence. Ruled by Venus, by Culpeper. A traditional astrological assignment, kept apart from the modern evidence; it is not a finding.

What it does, in Culpeper: PurgeMakes you vomit

Culpeper’s claims about it: 7, under 7 headings

  1. Appetite (to restore)CLM-000100
    yet if the decoction may stand and settle two or three days, until the yellow colour be changed black, it will not work so strongly as before, but will strengthen the stomach, and procure an appetite to meat.
    QUO-000080Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  2. DropsyCLM-000661
    The inner yellow bark hereof purges downwards both choler and phlegm, and the watery humours of such that have the dropsy, and strengthens the inward parts again by binding.
    QUO-000529Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  3. ItchCLM-0023451850 index, p. 6
    The inner bark thereof boiled in vinegar is an approved remedy to kill lice, to cure the itch, and take away scabs, by drying them up in a short time.
    QUO-001431Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  4. JaundiceCLM-000991
    If the bark hereof be boiled with Agrimony, Wormwood, Dodder, Hops, and some Fennel, with Smallage, Endive, and Succory-roots, and a reasonable draught taken every morning for some time together, it is very effectual against the jaundice, dropsy, and the evil disposition of the body, especially if some suitable purging medicines have been taken before, to void the grosser excrements:
    QUO-000751Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  5. LiverCLM-001154
    It purges and strengthens the liver and spleen, cleansing them from such evil humours and hardness as they are afflicted with.
    QUO-000828Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  6. PurgingCLM-001432
    The inner yellow bark hereof purges downwards both choler and phlegm, and the watery humours of such that have the dropsy, and strengthens the inward parts again by binding.
    QUO-000529Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  7. VomitCLM-002029
    for the fresh green bark taken inwardly provokes strong vomitings, pains in the stomach, and gripings in the belly;
    QUO-001278Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance

Source

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, a new edition (London: Thomas Kelly, 1850). Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. SRC-CUL-1850

Quotations are verbatim from the 1850 text, line breaks joined. Modern research and the European regulator’s verdict on each claim are on the Concordance page, kept apart from this historical record.