Thuja

Thuja occidentalis

COMMON NAMES

• False White Cedar
• Northern White Cedar
• Swamp Cedar
• Thuja
• Tree of Life
• White Cedar
• Yellow Cedar

Thuja is a tree reaching 30 to 60 feet tall with horizontal branches and scale-like, green needles. This aromatic evergreen tree has small terminal flowers, which are either dark brown (male) or yellow green (female).

Many Native American peoples prized arbor vitae as a medicine for fever, headaches, coughs, swollen hands, and rheumatic problems. Thuja was burned as a smudge (smoky fire) for its scent and to ward off evil spirits. The 19th-century eclectic herbalists used thuja as a remedy for bronchitis, rheumatism, and uterine cancer. Thuja has also been used to treat the side effects of the smallpox vaccination.

PARTS USED

Needle, branch.

USES

Ancient peoples burned thuja's aromatic wood along with sacrifices."Thuja" comes from the Latin form of the Greek word thero (to sacrifice). Other species of thuja were used in Egypt for embalming the dead. The botanist Carolus Clusius called the tree arbor vitae, Latin for "tree of life", when he saw one that had been imported from Canada to France. Native Americans used the plant for canoes, baskets, and perfumes, and sometimes boiled twigs for broth when other foods were unavailable or scarce. Oriental thuja, or Platylactus orientalis, has been popular in China for thousands of years, where thuja was cultivated for religious and ornamental purposes.

Native Americans employed thuja for malaria, gout, scurvy, rheumatism, menstrual disorders, and coughs. Thuja's volatile oil acts as a stimulant, a diuretic, and an irritant. Thuja is prepared as an ointment and applied externally to treat joint pain and arthritis. While the parts of the plant usually employed for therapeutic purposes are toxicologically harmless, the compound thujone can be toxic. It can cause vomiting, queasiness, painful diarrhea, and in some cases death. Thuja is used for respiratory tract infections, and in conjunction with antibiotics, in the treatment of bacterial skin infections and Herpes simplex. Homeopaths safely treat headache, eye inflammation, colds, and warts with thuja.

Thuja has an established antiviral activity. Thuja is most often used to treat warts and polyps, being prescribed both internally and externally for these conditions. Thuja is also used as part of a regime for treating cancer -especially cancer of the uterus. Thuja makes an effective expectorant and decongestant remedy, and may be used to treat acute bronchitis and other respiratory infections. Thuja induces menstruation and can be taken to bring on delayed periods, although this use is inadvisable if menstrual pain is severe. Thuja is diuretic and is used to treat acute cystitis and bed-wetting in children. Extracts may be painted on painful joints or muscles as a counter-irritant, improving local blood supply and easing pain and stiffness.

Other medical uses
Homeopathy.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Thuja grows in Canada and the northern United States. Thuja is cultivated as an ornamental plant in Europe.

CONSTITUENTS

Thuja contains 1 % volatile oil including thujone; flavonoid glycoside; mucilage; tannin.

USUAL DOSAGE

Infusion: pour a cup of boiling water onto 1 teaspoonful of the dried herb and leave to infuse for  10 - 15 minutes. This should be drunk three times a day.
Tincture: take 1 - 2 ml of the tincture three times a day.

COLLECTION AND HARVESTING

The twigs of this evergreen conifer can be gathered all year round, but are best during the summer.

COMBINATIONS

When used in pulmonary conditions thuja may be combined with senega, grindelia or lobelia.

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