The Poplar Tree

Populus

HRB-0233Entry “THE POPLAR 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 concernEFSA: Trypsin inhibitors, benzoylsalicin, populin and 4 moreEFSA’s list of substances, not a danger rating. Checked 26 October 2026.

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

Culpeper’s claims about it: 4, under 4 headings

  1. Falling SicknessCLM-000742
    The seed drank in vinegar, is held good against the falling-sickness.
    QUO-000584Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  2. InflammationsCLM-000946
    The ointment called Populneon, which is made of this Poplar, is singularly good for all heat and inflammations in any part of the body, and tempers the heat of wounds.
    QUO-000721Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  3. WartsCLM-0020581850 index
    The water that drops from the hollow places of this tree, takes away warts, pushes, wheals, and other the like breakings-out of the body.
    QUO-001296Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  4. WoundsCLM-002227
    The ointment called Populneon, which is made of this Poplar, is singularly good for all heat and inflammations in any part of the body, and tempers the heat of wounds.
    QUO-000721Papers 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.