Butternut plant (Juglans Cinerea) is native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada. Butternut, also known as Gray Walnut, Oil-nut, White Walnut, Lemon Walnut, and Oil-bean Nut belongs to the Juglandaceae plant family. Butternut is a deciduous tree that grows up to a maximum height of 66 feet. Butternut leaves are dark green in color, hairy and have odd number of leaflets. The butternut flowers are yellow-green in color and grow in spring. The fruits are lemon-shaped and generally sprout in bunches.
The Butternut tree is grown chiefly for its medicinal values. The butternut bark contains tannins, fixed oils, essential oil, bitter principles, juglandic acid, and juglone. Butternut bark has laxative, digestive, vermifuge, intestinal, stomachic, and antispasmodic properties. Butternut bark was utilized by Native Americans as a laxative and tonic remedy for a variety of other conditions, including rheumatic pain and arthritic joint pain, dysentery, constipation, headaches, and wounds. Butternut is one plant that has the ability to treat opposing disorders.
Fresh Butternut leaves and a Walnut Bach flower remedy is prescribed for times of change, including menopause or moving away. Blends made from the nut casings have been utilized for chronic diarrhea and as a tonic in anemia. Treatment of other conditions include skin problems, eye inflammations such as blepharitis and conjunctivitis, a digestive tonic for poor appetite, as a liver stimulant, and applied topically to skin diseases.
The Butternut oil has many valuable nutrients, containing vital essential fatty acids and is used to relieve dry and flaky eczema. The nuts are utilized in Chinese medicine as a kidney tonic. An extract from butternut bark is a strong laxative. Its especially helpful when mixed with such other carminative herbs such as angelica or ginger. Butternut bark has been used to purge the body of intestinal worms, and it aids the clearance of waste products by the liver. Butternut is available as infusion, powder, root, compress, tincture, capsules, oil and tea.