Where can I get slippery elm bark that isn't contaminated?

[Stumpsprouts]

I dunno. Is your place like the Grand Bohemian? I realize you probably don't have valet only parking, but that's a plus in my book.

It’s 256 sq ft, if by valet parking you mean you have to park down at the base of the property and walk 500 feet uphill, then yes, I can accommodate you. There is parking closer but that’s reserved for non-running cars from the 80s

 

[SlipperyTree]

I highly doubt any plant pathogen is going to affect the medical qualities of slippery elm. It’s a fairly mechanical treatment of a stool softener.
I find this and posts like this intriguing, folks that come to a professional arborist forum seeking advice for herbal medicine for their cat?!
You are right, I’ve never eaten cat, Im a pescatarian because fish have no feelings. Infant I’ve eaten less than a pound of red meat in my entire life.

try Dandelion Botanical in Ballard Seattle. FYI if they tell you it’s made in the US that quite likely means harvested in the US

I came to an arborist forum with my question because I thought you guys might know the answer. I have also asked in cat forums too, they do not know the answer. To be clear, none of them were familiar with trees at all and would probably not be able to pick an elm out of a lineup just like I wouldn't be able to. Anyhow, from what I have read online, Dutch elm disease is a fungus that burrows into the bark. I'm not familiar with how elm products are manufactured other than the inner bark is shaved off and dried I guess. I don't see how it's possible to eradicate fungus from it if it's burrowed into the bark, that sounds like pretty thorough contamination to me. I doubt that many people think about it and stuff like this isn't regulated so maybe people (and their unfortunate cats) are consuming contaminated bark. Do you know of a better place I could ask my question?

 

[SlipperyTree]

Where do you live? If we know that someone near you maybe be to help with a location of a slippery elm to harvest the bark from

I live in Southern Arizona. I'm wondering how someone local would be able to find or provide a disease free tree though. It seems to be spread by beetles flying from tree to tree. So I'm not sure if a grower can keep their trees protected, but I don't know much about that in general. Maybe they can.

 

[Stumpsprouts]

I came to an arborist forum with my question because I thought you guys might know the answer. I have also asked in cat forums too, they do not know the answer. To be clear, none of them were familiar with trees at all and would probably not be able to pick an elm out of a lineup just like I wouldn't be able to. Anyhow, from what I have read online, Dutch elm disease is a fungus that burrows into the bark. I'm not familiar with how elm products are manufactured other than the inner bark is shaved off and dried I guess. I don't see how it's possible to eradicate fungus from it if it's burrowed into the bark, that sounds like pretty thorough contamination to me. I doubt that many people think about it and stuff like this isn't regulated so maybe people (and their unfortunate cats) are consuming contaminated bark. Do you know of a better place I could ask my question?

An ecologist forum?

 

[SlipperyTree]

I highly doubt any plant pathogen is going to affect the medical qualities of slippery elm. It’s a fairly mechanical treatment of a stool softener.
I find this and posts like this intriguing, folks that come to a professional arborist forum seeking advice for herbal medicine for their cat?!
You are right, I’ve never eaten cat, Im a pescatarian because fish have no feelings. Infant I’ve eaten less than a pound of red meat in my entire life.

try Dandelion Botanical in Ballard Seattle. FYI if they tell you it’s made in the US that quite likely means harvested in the US

if they tell you it’s made in the US that quite likely means harvested in the US ---
I know. I figured it was worth an ask at least.

 

[SlipperyTree]

Slippery Elm Bark

Scientific name: Ulmus fulva Folk name: moose elm Element: Air Planet: Saturn Energies: to protect from gossip, helps to release negative energies.

www.ashevillepagansupply.store

Here is a company local to me. Asheville Raven and Crone. I don’t know them. The local herbalists I know don’t go in for slippery elm bc it is over harvested. You can call them and ask them all the questions you like, and no I’m not going to call them for you. Good luck with the cat! I give my mean fat evil cat two insulin shots a day that’s harvested from a pigs gut, so I guess I can kind of relate.

Thanks for the suggestion. I had no expectation that you would call them for me. It would be pretty bizarre to expect an internet stranger to do that and then get back to you. Good luck with your cat too.

 

[SlipperyTree]

Interesting...I had to look up Ulmus fulva as what I learned as Slippery elm is Ulmus rubra. Looks like they are synonymous (I think maybe I knew that at one time...U fulva sounded familiar???). Looks like the herbalists use U. fulva while botanists use U. rubra. Wonder why? (Not that I care enough to spend the time digging... Just interesting I guess)

Not sure. I guess it depends on what they're using it for? All of the cat products I looked at online were labeled Ulmus Rubra.

 

[SlipperyTree]

Me too. The AI/spammer alarm is ringing.

In the past 2-3 years Treebuzz has become noticed by Google. For most of Treebuzz's life there were never any homeowner participants. That's changed. For the most part these outside questions seem pretty cool. It's nice to see how they are handled.

Interesting that spammers and AI would make posts asking questions. I am neither of those, I just have a very sick cat that I am desperate to find a solution for before she dies for lack of one.

 

[SlipperyTree]

An ecologist forum?

Maybe, I will check it out.

 

[Stumpsprouts]

Interesting that spammers and AI would make posts asking questions. I am neither of those, I just have a very sick cat that I am desperate to find a solution for before she dies for lack of one.

I see that you’re really working to help out your cat and I admire that spirit, I do, and I hope you find something that works. Your question spans multiple disciplines and concerns flora fauna and fungi alike, so I’m afraid to say you might be in the weeds with this one. I’d keep experimenting and go with trial and error.

Your concerns are valid, my wife who is studying herbalism confirmed that alcohol based tinctures, as well as drying methods, will not kill a fungal agent present in plant material.

Truly, good luck.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

YOu've got part of the DED cycle down but what you've shared shows that what you know is incomplete.

A local should know if you can find any slippery elm in your locale. Without doing homework I'm skeptical that elm would grow in southern AZ. That's easy to find out on line.

Lets say they do grow there. Diagnosing DED is quite easy. There are plenty of websites with great pictures.

So now you have found if slippery elm is local and how to diagnose DED. Next its time to harvest the cambium to get the material you're after. I've read a little about collecting cambium from trees for medicinal purposes. Not difficult but it will be a big project. More research for you. You won't be using the bark you're going to be after the cambium which is under the bark.

You might find more information about the process of collecting by reading about collecting the cambium from willows to make aspirin.

 

[SlipperyTree]

I see that you’re really working to help out your cat and I admire that spirit, I do, and I hope you find something that works. Your question spans multiple disciplines and concerns flora fauna and fungi alike, so I’m afraid to say you might be in the weeds with this one. I’d keep experimenting and go with trial and error.

Your concerns are valid, my wife who is studying herbalism confirmed that alcohol based tinctures, as well as drying methods, will not kill a fungal agent present in plant material.

Truly, good luck.

Thank you, I appreciate your kind words! And yes, I did have a feeling that my question might be a little impossible. According to Google, the only elms in Canada that are positively known to be without disease are the ones in Alberta and Vancouver. I'm not sure if I could narrow down what suppliers use them, but maybe. The Oregon Harvest responded to my email saying they asked their quality control and their supplier and both denied contamination, and also said that the inner bark can be harvested from diseased trees, they just use the parts that aren't affected yet. Makes sense to me! I'm guessing a lab test wouldn't show anything either way and with the answer I got from them I may be being too cautious to not buy something from them at this point, so that's what I think I will do. Thank you!

 

[SlipperyTree]

YOu've got part of the DED cycle down but what you've shared shows that what you know is incomplete.

A local should know if you can find any slippery elm in your locale. Without doing homework I'm skeptical that elm would grow in southern AZ. That's easy to find out on line.

Lets say they do grow there. Diagnosing DED is quite easy. There are plenty of websites with great pictures.

So now you have found if slippery elm is local and how to diagnose DED. Next its time to harvest the cambium to get the material you're after. I've read a little about collecting cambium from trees for medicinal purposes. Not difficult but it will be a big project. More research for you. You won't be using the bark you're going to be after the cambium which is under the bark.

You might find more information about the process of collecting by reading about collecting the cambium from willows to make aspirin.

Yes, I know that what I know is incomplete. That's why I just wanted to buy it. And you may be surprised at what grows in Arizona. They grow all kinds of stuff here, including lettuce in Yuma and it is ridiculous how hot it is there. They don't even have a lot of pavement to soak up the heat and keep it going all night either, it's still crazy hot.

 

[ATH]

Is it actually a problem if the bark is infected with DED???

If the tree were heavily infected, they wouldn't be able to harvest much because it would be dried out.

 

[evo]

Thank you, I appreciate your kind words! And yes, I did have a feeling that my question might be a little impossible. According to Google, the only elms in Canada that are positively known to be without disease are the ones in Alberta and Vancouver. I'm not sure if I could narrow down what suppliers use them, but maybe. The Oregon Harvest responded to my email saying they asked their quality control and their supplier and both denied contamination, and also said that the inner bark can be harvested from diseased trees, they just use the parts that aren't affected yet. Makes sense to me! I'm guessing a lab test wouldn't show anything either way and with the answer I got from them I may be being too cautious to not buy something from them at this point, so that's what I think I will do. Thank you!

We have DED here, and we are about half way from Seattle to the boarder.
You are over thinking this. If you are worried about your cat just go to any reputable herb shop, I already gave you the name of a local leader in their ‘industry’…. Slippery elm is cheap you are over thinking this

 

[SlipperyTree]

Is it actually a problem if the bark is infected with DED???

If the tree were heavily infected, they wouldn't be able to harvest much because it would be dried out.

Yes, it would be a problem. Would you drink tea made from tree wood infected with DED? Would you be thinking about it the whole time? Sounds pretty gross, no?

 

[evo]

Yes, it would be a problem. Would you drink tea made from tree wood infected with DED? Would you be thinking about it the whole time? Sounds pretty gross, no?

I would... nature isnt sterile, unless its known to be harmful we ingest millions of "infections". Do you have any clue on the volume of puss and blood in cows milk? yes that is why its pasteurized, but some people drink coffee that has been shat out by a cat.. If this is the only treatment that you can find to save your cat, I'd start digging a hole because I doubt you will find a palatable solution to your tastes.

 

[SlipperyTree]

We have DED here, and we are about half way from Seattle to the boarder.
You are over thinking this. If you are worried about your cat just go to any reputable herb shop, I already gave you the name of a local leader in their ‘industry’…. Slippery elm is cheap you are over thinking this

No, I'm not overthinking this at all. This is my cat, my money, my conscience, and my responsibility to do the right thing for my pet who depends on me for everything. The website you suggested to me doesn't work. You should try it out! Just open that link and type something into their search box. Do they even ship???? They don't even have a FAQ or shipping/returns link at the bottom of their site. Their website doesn't even have a DATE on it other than when they finished the tea prices page in 2006. Who are theses people??? Why did you recommend them??? You gave me a busted website and now you're telling me I'm overthinking this. If you don't care about what I'm trying to do, then that's fine. I don't care. But you are trying to dismiss me with a busted website and a flip of your hand. Why bother. That's a lot of effort you're putting in for nothing at all other than to send people around the internet looking for something and then tell them they're overthinking it.

 

[SlipperyTree]

I would... nature isnt sterile, unless its known to be harmful we ingest millions of "infections". Do you have any clue on the volume of puss and blood in cows milk? yes that is why its pasteurized, but some people drink coffee that has been shat out by a cat.. If this is the only treatment that you can find to save your cat, I'd start digging a hole because I doubt you will find a palatable solution to your tastes.

I don't drink cows milk. I have never heard of coffee that's been shat out of a cat. I have heard that cockroaches are ground up into ground coffee, they make milk too. I'm not sure what you're getting at. I still don't want to intentionally give my cat fungus tea.

 

[SlipperyTree]

I would... nature isnt sterile, unless its known to be harmful we ingest millions of "infections". Do you have any clue on the volume of puss and blood in cows milk? yes that is why its pasteurized, but some people drink coffee that has been shat out by a cat.. If this is the only treatment that you can find to save your cat, I'd start digging a hole because I doubt you will find a palatable solution to your tastes.

I'm not sure how this conversation went from "I'm searching for fungus-free tea to feed my pet" to "better dig your cat a hole because you aren't going to find anything sterile in nature."