Herb Journal: Willow Bark

The overwhelming thing that I noticed about Willow Bark, before I even tried it, was the floral, aroma,tic scent of the tincture. Wow, I can't remember the last time a tincture had a smell that I remembered fondly. The taste of the Willow Bark tincture in water is quite the same, pleasurable, sweet, even kind of syrupy. I didn't want to put too much of the tincture into the water, since if the smell was so powerful, I could assume that so was the medicine. Plus, i know that Willow is best known for it's pain-killing qualities, if it is potent, well then I won't need to much of it. Every time I tip the cup up to my mouth, the smell just melts me. It tastes like violets, or some sort of purple flower.. it tastes the way they smell. I'm a bit intoxicated with this tincture right now, and I can say.. it is so .. nice.. to take. What a pleasure. I don't find it bitter, drying or astringent, just floral and delicious. Willow bark is known, much like Meadowsweet, for its analgesic effects, an herbal aspirin, as some might say.. I have been using it successfully, for some time, in salves for arthritis, sprains & strains. It is very effective, and pretty miraculous, how the bark of a tree can do such wonders. It also helps with genito-urinary irritation, general over-excitability in many of its manifestations, diminishes irritation both on a physical and mental/emotional plane. It helps with ovarian pain, gonorrhea, indigestion, mental irritation/bitterness, headache and much more. This is a great herb, I love it, and am so glad to have it as something that I can use in my natural medicine making vocabulary.