• Traditionally used to help support digestion, indigestion, gas, infections and more.

Name

Rhamnus purshianus, DC. (Rhamnaceae), commonly called cascara bark, or cascara. The very closely related Rhamnus catharticus L., or European buckthorn is called Neprun purgatif in French; in German, Kreuzdorn.

Source

Cascara comes from the bark of a tree that is the North relative of the Buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula). The latter grows throughout Europe and Asia. The active ingredients of both barks are effective laxatives. However, cascara bark must be allowed to age for at least one year before it is used. Unaged bark is much more potent than blackthorn, and if used fresh it can result in a violent digestive upset.

History

Certainly the safest of the herbal laxatives, cascara bark has been tried for hundreds of years. Cascara and other anthracene-containing plants were first used for their pigments by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Their laxative properties were discovered in the Middle Ages.

Traditional Support Uses

Laxative and duprative (something used to purify the blood).

Commission E Recommendations

Cascara bark can be used to help support constipation.

Possible Effects

Cascara bark and buckthorn belong to a group of plants that contain anthracene pigments. The name derives from the fact that they were first isolated from anthracite in 1832 (by the French chemists Dumas and Lambert). Cascara works in exactly the same way as aloe, Buckthorn, frangula bark, and senna. The active ingredients are inert in the upper gastrointestinal tract, but when they reach the large bowel they are converted to their active form (by removal of sugar molecules that are attached to the pigments). Once they have been converted, they cause water and electrolytes (vital body salts like sodium and potassium) to accumulate in the large intestine. As the volume of the large intestine increases, so does its internal pressure, and that causes the intestines to contract, resulting in a bowel movement. St. John's Wort also contains anthraquinones, but has no laxative effects because the sugar molecules are not split off in the intestines.

Dosage

Cascara is usually taken in sugar-coated tablets, but liquid extracts and elixirs are also used. The dose is usually adjusted to contain 20-30 miiiigrams of the active agents (Cascarasides A, B, C, and D), the equivalent of .25 to 1 gram of the dried bark.

Cascara, also known as Cascara Sagrada, Rhamni Purshianae cortex and Rhamnus, is native to the forests of the North Pacific Coast, ranging from northern California to British Columbia and almost to the Alaska panhandle. Cascara bark is now listed as a laxative in the pharmacopoeias of over 17 different countries around the world. The bark is primarily and for complaints that require a softened stool such as hemorrhoids, anal fissures, and after rectal-anal surgery. Cascara bark acts as a mild laxative that works by keeping electrolytes and water from being absorbed in the large intestine; the excess liquid softens the stool and promotes bowel contractions. Both the German and British Pharmacopoeias recommend Cascara bark for constipation and for all disorders in which defecation with a soft stool is desired, e.g. anal fissures, hemorrhoids and after rectal operations. The active glycosides are hydrolyzed in the gut into their aglycones at least in part by the action of enzymes; by influencing the water and electrolyte transport in the colon, these aglycones are responsible for the laxative action.

Cascara sagrada, also known as sacred bark or chittem bark, affects the colon, spleen, stomach, and the liver. Its biochemical constituents include anthraquinone glycosides, bitter principle, tannins, and resin. It possesses laxative, bitter tonic, nervine, and emetic properties useful in supporting constipation and liver congestion.

The bitter principle of cascara bark stimulates the secretions of the entire digestive system including the liver, gallbladder, stomach and pancreas. It is one of the safest tonic-laxative herbs known and can be used on a daily basis for chronic constipation if needed. It is also useful for digestive tract health, hemorrhoids, liver failure and jaundice. Only bark that has been dried and aged for at least one year should be used.

Cascara

Rhamnus purshianus DC.

Rhamnus has been considered both masculine and feminine, so that one encounters both "R. purshianus" and "R. purshiana." Early botanists favored the masculine version, and the Code of Botanical Nomenclature recommends that tradition be followed.

English Common Names

Cascara, cascara sagrada, bayberry, bearberry, bearwood, bitterbark, cascara buckthorn, Californian buckthorn, holybark, Persian bark.

The name "bearberry" is sometimes employed for cascara in British Columbia, but is best reserved for Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, addressed in this work. "Bayberry" generally refers to Myrica pensylvanica Loisel., a shrub of eastern North America. The common name "Californian buckthorn" should not be confused with the scientific name Rhamnus californica Esch. (California coffeeberry). The drug (i.e., bark preparation) is known as cascara sagrada (French = écorce sacrée, cascara sagrada), from the Spanish for "sacred bark," or rarely chittem bark. Below, following majority practice, the plant is referred to as cascara while the laxative bark preparation is called cascara sagrada.

French Common Names

Ecorce sacrée, cascara, nerprun cascara, nerprun de Pursh.

Morphology

Cascara is a deciduous shrub or tree as tall as 12 m (very rarely to 15 m) and with a trunk diameter sometimes approaching a meter, although usually no more than 50 cm. The ashy-gray to dark brown, often red-tinged bark, which constitutes the economic part of the plant, is thin and smooth, and develops brown to gray scales. The freshly cut interior surface is bright yellow, but darkens rapidly. The leaves are 5-18 cm long, oblong, with 10-12 pairs of prominent parallel veins. Most plants have both bisexual and unisexual flowers, although occasionally a plant bears flowers of only one sex. The berry-like drupes are red when immature, ripening to black or purplish black, sweet, juicy fruits 6-12 mm in diameter. As the plants are frequently cut down for their bark, it is fortunate that stump sprouts arise readily.

Classification and Geography

Rhamnus purshianus occurs in the Pacific Coast region from British Columbia (including Vancouver Island) southward in the coastal ranges and in the Sierra Nevada to southern California; it is also found in the Rocky Mountain region, east to northern Idaho, and northwestern Montana. Over-collecting has removed the plant in parts of its range.

Ecology

Rhamnus purshianus is often found in moist areas, by streamsides and in woods, often in lowlands and canyons, and in submontane areas to about 1500 m. It is also distributed along fence rows and roadsides. While cascara is widespread, it is usually not abundant, generally occurring amidst local forest and woodland species. It is very tolerant of shade, and often is an understory species. The fruits are eaten by birds and mammals, which disperse the seeds.

Medicinal Uses

Cascara is mainly useful for its laxative bark, and in this respect is one of the most valuable commercial native crops of North America. Pacific Northwest Indians used cascara sagrada for centuries as a traditional supportive for constipation, and white settlers took up this use in the early l800s.

Cascara sagrada is an example of the maxim that good health supplements should taste bad. If taken as a tonic or tea (rather than in capsule form) it is bitter and tends to provoke nausea. It is very useful for habitual constipation, but is also employed for digestive complaints, and in supporting hemorrhoids. It is most used to help support disorders in which an easy evacuation of the bowel is desired. Cascara sagrada is not habit-forming, and indeed should only be used on a short-term basis. It is classified as a tonic laxative, strengthening the peristaltic muscles of the intestinal wall so that additional use of a laxative becomes unnecessary.

Chemistry

The cathartic activity of cascara sagrada is due to a mixture of hydroxyanthracene derivatives (particularly anthraquinone glycosides). These excite peristalsis in the colon, and so are useful in supporting chronic constipation. The mechanism has been explained as an inhibition of the absorption of electrolytes and water from the large intestine, with a consequent increase in volume of the bowel contents strengthening the dilation pressure and thereby stimulating peristalsis.

Non-medicinal Uses

There are several minor uses for cascara. The wood is locally used for posts, fuel, and for turnery. Cascara honey is considered very tasty, although somewhat laxative. The fruits may be eaten by humans, although a temporary reddish cast to the skin is said to occasionally result. Extracts from cascara have been employed to flavor liqueurs, soft drinks, ice cream and baked goods. Cascara is sometimes grown as an ornamental, principally in the eastern US and Europe. The tree is also planted to provide food and habitat for wildlife, and to help control soil erosion.

Agricultural and Commercial Aspects

Today, cascara sagrada accounts for about 20% of the US laxative market, the latter estimated to be worth about US$400 million annually. The overall retail value of cascara bark is of the order of $100 million. Cascara sagrada has been recorded in about 200 drug products sold in Canada, and occurs in more North drug preparations than any other wild-collected material. It has been called the most widely used cathartic on earth. However, the demand for it appears to have diminished somewhat since the 1960s because of the development of alternative drugs.

Cascara bark is still collected from wild trees throughout the range of the plant, particularly in Washington. It has been cultivated for harvest of the bark in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, and occasionally in Eurasia, but plantations have not achieved much economic success, and the plant remains largely gathered from the wild. Since it is a secondary host of Oat Crown Rust (although not as significant as such species as R. frangula L.), local regulations may limit its cultivation. Formerly, harvest involved stripping the bark from the trunk of standing trees, a wasteful and unacceptable procedure that kills the trees and harvests only some of the bark. By contrast, felling the tree and leaving a 30 cm stump cut at an angle (to shed water) allows complete harvesting of bark, including that of the branches, and lets the plant regenerate. The average yield of bark per tree is 4.5 kg, but ranges from about 2 kg for a 7.5 cm diameter tree to 71 kg for a 43 cm diameter tree. The harvested bark is sun-dried, broken into pieces, packed and shipped to dealers. Because fresh bark tends to cause griping and nausea, the bark is aged for a year, or artificially aged by heat (e.g., 1 hour at 100øC). The drug preparation should be stored away from moisture and light.

Overharvesting of wild trees is a continuing problem. In British Columbia, cutting trees on Crown land requires a permit, and provincial legislation also governs how such cutting may be carried out. In the first half of this century, wild trees sometimes supplied annual harvests of over 300 tonnes in B.C. alone, with harvests from throughout the natural range estimated in some years at about 2,000 tonnes. Reliable estimates for recent times are not available. Cultivation may become more economically feasible as natural populations continue to decline. The tree is so readily established that the cascara industry in Canada could easily be strengthened by either cultivation and (or) increasing its frequency in natural habitats to that of former times.

Myths, Legends, Tales, Folklore, and Interesting Facts

• The conquistadores were so impressed by the effectiveness and mildness of Rhamnus purshianus that they christened it cascara sagrada, Spanish for holy or sacred bark.
• The name Rhamnus purshianus commemorates the botanist Frederick Pursh (1774-1820), born in Germany. The victim of misfortune and ill health, his plant collection was destroyed in a fire, and he died in poverty in Montreal while preparing a book on the plants of Canada.
• The laxative utility of Rhamnus purshianus should not be confused with that of the comparatively dangerous R. catharticus L. (buckthorn). Buckthorn was once widely employed in Europe, and imported by North colonists, who reportedly needed an explosive laxative that would "act like dynamite." Settlers commonly planted buckthorn conveniently close to their dwellings, and today it is a commonly naturalized weedy shrub in southeastern Canada and northeastern US.
• The following recommendation for cascara sagrada was encountered on the world wide web: "Sprinide an infusion around your home before going to court; it will help you win your case."
• Due to its bitter taste, cascara sagrada can be put on finger nails to discourage nail bit ing.
• Cascara sagrada has been used in amulets for protection against evil and hexes.

Cascara is a safe, effective laxative. It should not, however, be used on a long-term basis. Chronic constipation could reflect more serious underlying health problem, and individuals with this problem should consult their doctor.

Common names are chittem bark, Christ's thorn, California buckthorn, Persian bark, bear wood, chittinwood, and holy bark Use of this herb dates back to the seventeenth century as a herb that can be used for constipation and stomach upset, and it was widely used by herbalists throughout the United States in the nineteenth century. Cascara sagrada not only stimulates the peristaltic action of the bowel, but has a toning action as well. It's considered safe for the young, old, and ill. It was first identified by a scientist named Pursh in 1814, from whom the name purshiana comes. In Spanish, the name means "sacred bark," and it's probably the most widely used herbal laxative on earth.

Plant Facts and Growing Tips

Plant: A deciduous shrub or small tree with a distinctive reddish bark. Native to California, it grows wild on the West Coast all the way to British Columbia. Tiny greenish yellow flowers appear in spring and small berries about 1/2 inch in diameter turn from scarlet to black when ripe.

Height: 5 to 25 feet.

Soil: Moist, evergreen forests; fertile soil.

Exposure: Full sun to partial shade.

Propagation: By seed, layering, or cuttings.

Part Used for Tea: Bark aged for at least one year, gathered from the young trunk and from moderate-size branches. Bark aged three years is considered best. The bark can be dried artificially at 100°F (37°C) for 1 hour to achieve the same effects as one year of aging.

Taste: Bitter, slightly acrid, disagreeable, and nauseating to many people.

How to Brew

By Decoction: Simmer 1 teaspoon bark in 1 1/2 pints water for 30 minutes. Allow liquid to cool in a covered container. Drink 1 tablespoon of cold decoction per day as needed.

By Infusion: Traditional methods include soaking a piece of dried bark in water overnight. A more potent laxative was made by boiling fresh bark for several hours or pouring boiling water over crushed bark and letting it cool. Nursing mothers and people with irritable bowel or irritations should not use this tea. Also, use only dried bark, and in small doses; fresh bark or excessive doses will cause nausea and cramping.

Sweet Rewards Tea

This tea works wonders for constipation:

• 1 teaspoon cascara sagrada bark
• 1 teaspoon cicely leaves, dried (optional)

Boil the bark in 1 1/2 pints water for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add cicely 1eaves. Allow liquid to cool in a covered container.

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