White Oak Bark

White Oak Bark (Quercus alba)
Family:  Fagaceae
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​When asked to recall something special from our childhood, it’s not uncommon to name a favorite climbing tree, one that grew just outside our bedroom window; or in the woods at street’s end where we gleefully shed the day’s routines to engage a wilderness of inviting boughs; or a tree that grew beside the creek that spilled along the farthest reaches of our known childhood territory, and leaning from its branches, thumb and forefinger circling one eye as if a pirate.at sea with a spyglass, we sought knowledge of a larger world.
That favorite tree, whose branches became a stairway to a new and private world, was one in which we became overseer of buds, leaves, flowers, and fruit, their birthing, and their dying; and overseer of all the insects, birds, and squirrels that dwelled and died in the tree’s knotholes and nested branches.  It was a world where we could oversee the land below besides, as it stretched beyond the familiar neighborhood far away into the realm of our imagination.
Thus, was born an intimacy upon the strong shoulders of a tree, an intimacy that would remain alive and strong in the soul of our memory even into the last of our days.

A tree having good girth and overall solidity is more receptive to the grappling of children’s heels digging into its trunk; massive branches can better withstand being stepped upon and swung from.  When growing in open space without obstruction, where it can root, unfold, and rise to its greatest potential, the white oak tree becomes a remarkable example of a tree made for climbing: from its stocky 4- to 8-foot-wide trunk there grow large, wide-angle branches with a spread equal to or greater than the tree’s height. The lowest branches, parallel and quite close to the ground with a wide lateral extension, are the steps a child takes to his world aloft.
Under full sun, with a tap root deep in moist, well-drained soil, and with absence of abuse of the land in which it’s rooted, a white oak tree reaches an impressive 100 to 150 feet in height with the potential to live 600 or more years. 
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The oak family (Fagaceae) is ecologically striking because of its abundant biomass.  With extraordinary species diversity in America (and 600 species worldwide), Quercus has become one of the most widespread and species-rich tree genera in the northern hemisphere, giving plentifully of breath, beauty, durability, and medicinal wisdom.
In Missouri, the white oak tree is the signal species for a subset of native oaks called the white oak group (represented by over cup, swamp chestnut, chinquapin, dwarf chestnut, and post).  In the wilds of our state, these individual oaks, depending upon habitat need, can be found on slopes and ridges of high, hilly land or deep in valleys and ravines or along streams and rivers and in the recesses of coves.  Having embraced our many diverse habitats, the white oak group successfully distinguishes itself across our state on sandy plains and savannas; in woodlands and forests; on rises and in vales; in the sediment of river delta and the swampy wash of bottomland. And, if tended well and kept from provocation, the white oak tree, governor of the body of Missouri white oaks, can be seen residing majestically for years on our suburban lawns and in our city parks. 
Beyond this, as host to king of the castle or captain of the seas, it succeeds in the fertile depths of a child’s imagination, as well as on the high-rising uplands of his heart. 

Particularly sensitive to disturbance of its immediate environment, resistant to transplanting unless very young, the white oak tree exudes a stillness that makes us, as adults, want to be quietly respectful in its presence.  Captured by the architectural sweep of its shape and size, with tender hands pressed against the constancy of its wood, we’re moved to think upon great and powerful archetypal things such as goodness, nobility, high-mindedness, and wisdom.  Of things of lasting value.  Of things superior and permanent in a vastly inferior and impermanent world.
Its rise is that of a cathedral.  Entering the magnitude of its space, we transcend, allowing the particulars of our lives to fall away in the face of something grander. 
And so, we have climbed those massive limbs and been held aloft.

The ability of the white oak tree to induce within us a state of its essence is derived from the tree’s literal physical strength, which can elevate and power an individual tree over the course of centuries.  
The white oak tree’s properties of resistance to water damage and disease, the high degree of hardness of its wood conferred by such properties, have driven various woodworking industries to utilize the tree in the creation of mine timber, railroad ties, ships, and beer and wine barrels, products having the most need of sturdy, water-resistant, healthy wood.
If from a tiny acorn, the mighty oak grows, then it’s from tiny tannins that the white oak tree is helped to achieve its considerable durability and length of life. Microscopic, complex, polyphenolic compound molecules that contribute to the quality of wood, tannins are in rich supply in this tree.

​The successful growth of the white oak tree relies upon continuous transformation of new wood (sapwood) growing just beneath its bark into dead wood (heartwood) at its center.  Though dead, heartwood, if the other layers of the tree remain intact, is the reliable supporting pillar that allows the white oak tree to stand and spread high and wide for centuries. Participants in the making of the tree’s long life, the tannins are laid down during this transformation process, concentrating to a great degree in the heartwood.  There, securing to and precipitating out protein from the wood’s cell walls, tannins forge cross-linked, locked-tight, insoluble complexes, effectively building a protective water-proof shield.  Defensive against disease, as well, tannins fasten to and precipitate out protein from exudate (substances that ooze from the pores of diseased tissue) caused by microbial pathogens. Arresting the exudate by forming a film of clotted protein that walls off the microbial cells from fluid intake and outflow, the precipitate shrinks the disease-producing microbes toward obsolescence, helping prevent infection from advancing.
The mechanisms used by tannins are, therefore, those of binding (securing, fastening to), precipitating out (making insoluble), aggregating (drawing together; forming a complex), and drying up (reducing exudate; shrinking) for the purpose of establishing a stable barrier that assists in protection and healing.  In other words, tannins both astringe and help prevent the growth of pathogenic organisms and the diseases they cause.

Found not only in heartwood, tannins that are used medicinally are taken from the tree’s inner bark.  Their ascribed biological activities are most evident when we use a white oak bark aqueous or ethanol extract to shore up lax tissue, dry up leaking fluid, and relieve inflammation, thereby creating a safe space for our healing to occur through the properties of dry astringency and antisepsis.  As a result, the applications of this herb are myriad.
Externally:
Use a white oak bark decoction as a compress to stop bleeding, absorb seepage, and reduce inflammation, such actions helping to form new tissue where skin is wounded.  Use gently on lesser cuts and slight burns that are at risk of infection; avoid use on more grievous, extensive injury with broken skin and raw skin exposure.
A compress of the decoction may be applied to bruises, as well as to varicose veins.
The decoction may be used in a sitz bath to help heal hemorrhoids or introduced directly into bath water to ease itching, irritated skin. 
To tighten gums, firm up teeth in their sockets, and strengthen tooth enamel; for tooth decay and bleeding gums; for infections in the mouth or a sore throat, rinse and gargle with the decoction, holding it in the mouth for a few minutes before spitting it out.  Note:  for these applications, it’s advisable to brush and floss thoroughly beforehand.
For cleansing and removal of excess scalp and hair oil, to clarify the scalp and hair, to make hair shine;  to soothe a dry, itchy, flaky scalp; to smooth coarse hair (particularly gray hair); to strengthen hair and its follicles, use the decoction as a scalp rinse.
Internally:
White Oak Bark may be used when tissue is relaxed with too much fluid such as in conditions of profuse dampness from fever or exhaustive night sweats;  overstretched, porous veins flaccid with pooling blood; excess menstrual flow swelling the uterine lining; or irritated, inflamed tissue presenting infectious discharge.  Whether obstinate, intermittent fever accompanied by copious perspiration; veins weeping with age; menstrual cycles of heavy bleeding and long duration; wet, catarrh-soaked lungs; intestinal mucosal ulcerations; chronic diarrhea; irritated bladder with bloody efflux; or the discharge of sexually-transmitted bacterial infections, the effect of tannins is to wall off a space from offending forces that can further weaken and/or infect, counter immoderate flow of perspiration, blood, or exudate, and create a space high and dry that accommodates resolution. 
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Not considered agents of cure in and of themselves but rather responsible for the temporary treatment of symptoms, the wisdom of tannins’ actions is to stretch and enhance the reach of the body’s immunology.  Raised up from weakness, dispelled of fluid surfeit and/or further infection, tissues begin to build back toward proper support of the body’s functions, now facilitated by the ableness of the body to complete the healing process. 
In other words, the tannins in white oak bark become steps toward a higher level of healing, the force of their actions holding us on the rise.
Dosing Suggestions:
(Important to note is the critical caveat attached to the use of white oak bark.  Owing to the strength of its tannins in their ability to astringe tissue, the use of white oak bark in any form requires strict limitation).
To make a decoction of white oak bark, use a tsp of the bark for every 8 ounces of water:  bring the water to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and introduce the bark.  Cover and let simmer 20 to 30 minutes.
Apart from infrequent use of white oak bark decoction in the bath or as only an occasional scalp and hair rinse, daily application of it topically may be safest within a one - to two-week range of time.
Internally, use is best within two to three days.  Suggested dose of a decoction is one to two cups a day; for a liquid extract, one to two dropperfuls twice daily.
Safety Considerations:
Should skin irritation or gastrointestinal upset develop while using white oak bark, discontinue its use.
Use internally only between meals, as white oak bark may disturb digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Existing liver and kidney conditions prohibit the use of this herb.  Some sources indicate that overuse of white oak bark may even create such conditions.
Avoid white oak bark while pregnant or breastfeeding.
Appropriately, if under medical supervision and using prescription medicine, please discuss possibility of the use of white oak bark, as well as herbs you wish to use in tandem with it, with your physician(s).
Sources available upon request.
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