Living Earth Newsletter
Pine Needle - (Pinus sylvestris )
It's the Holiday time of year and the aromatic smell of pine is one of the favorite odors that we associate with this season. It can be ironic how pleasing this fragrance is to people when they think of the holidays and yet, during the rest of the year I have heard many that seem to associate pine's odor to household cleanser (which has a much stronger turpentiney odor) and all of a sudden it's not so pleasing. My suggestion would be to stick with the more pleasing holiday aspect of this refreshing aroma, for it is a most excellent and therapeutic medicine. Just picture vast expanses of wild and free mountain pine forests with their fresh and clean rain washed air. Pine's aroma is relaxing, yet refreshing and invigorating and induces deep, healthy breathing.
Pines are conifers, most of which grow straight, narrow trunks
and many growing to hieghts of over 100ft. Pinus sylvestris yields the one of
the best essential oils for aromatherapy use. Picea and Abies species are also very suitable to yielding
essential oils utilized in aromatherapy. Pinus sylvestris grows up to120 ft.
and has deeply fissured reddish bark. Its leaves are long stiff needles and
this tree bears brown, woody, pointed cones. To walk through a pine forest can
be an exhilarating experience, for pine trees exude their essential oils into
the surrounding air, filling the whole place with a fresh and crisp fragrance.
Pine needles have been employed by man throughout the centuries for bedding
material and in bath preparations. A tea to drink can be made from pine
needles, that is good for the kidneys and bladder as well as a vermifuge, and aids
with diseases of the mucous membranes and respiratory system.
Pine was long known to the ancients. The Arabs, Greeks and Romans knew its medicinal value. The Balm of Gilead mentioned many times in the Bible by the Hebrews were buds from a pine species (Pinus balsamea also known as abies canadensis, Spruce and Balsam Fir). The ancient Egyptians ate pine kernels as a restorative. Pliny, in his 'Natural History', goes into great detail about pine's therapeutic effects, especially on the respiratory system. The American Indians would stuff mattresses with pine needles to prevent fleas and lice and they also made a brew from pine buds, which prevented scurvy. They would also take pine twigs and burn them with cedar and juniper for purification purposes. There is an old Swiss folk remedy that uses pine needles in mattresses for rheumatism. An old European practice of taking young pine shoots and crushing and mashing them, then adding them to the bath was employed for nervous exhaustion. To this day pine is popular in bath preparations for it's fresh deodorizing scent and it's anti-neuralgic and anti-rheumatic properties. Another European practice was to take the sawdust and make a poultice of it, laying it along the spine to aid in debility. During the World Wars, camps were deliberately setup in pine forests due to the therapeutic effects it had on the respiratory system as well as the restorative effect it had on the soldiers. Of pine, Culpeper says, "it is mollifying, healing, and cleansing in it’s nature." Pine boughs, wreaths, and garlands have long been traditional Yule time decoration and let us not leave out the Christmas tree, every young child's favorite evergreen. It is one of the first trees my children could identify at a very young age. Pine is one of humankinds most valued timbers and yields an array of products, too numerous for me to mention here, that we use daily. The World is indeed enriched greatly with the gift of the pine.
Aromatherapy Uses
Chemistry of Pinus sylvestris
The main chemical components found in Pinus sylvestris essential oil (as well as other pine essential oils) are monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes with aldehydes, esters, and oxides. The monoterpenes include camphene, carene, dipentene, limonene, myrcene, ocimene, phellandrine, pinene, sabinene and others. The monoterpenes are responsible for the stimulant, expectorant, and relaxing effects of this essential oil. The sesquiterpenes include cadinene, sylvestrene, and some traces of chamazulene as well as others. The properties given to the essential oil from sesquiterpenes include anti-inflammatory, anti-allergenic, stimulating, cooling, nerve and muscle tonifying, antimicrobial, antifungal, stimulating to the adrenal cortex and glandular secretion, and they reduce congestion in the lymphatic system and circulation. The aldehydes, which are the most aromatic molecules in essential oils, include anisic aldehyde and citral. The aldehydes are responsible for some of the antiseptic, germicidal, anti-inflammatory, and calming properties in pines essential oil. The main ester found is bornyl acetate and makes this essential oil a good expectorant and nasal and bronchial inhalant. Cineol is an oxide that acts as an expectorant, on stomach upsets, and as an antiseptic in this essential oil.
Pine's Therapeutic Properties for the Human Body
Pine's therapeutic value stands tall for the respiratory system for it allows for better oxygen intake by expanding breathing which would help with conditions like asthma and bronchitis and enhances breathing during childbirth and labor. It helps with catarrh, coughs, sinusitis, & sore throats and acts as a strong antiseptic for the respiratory tract. In the circulatory system, pine aids in better circulation and helps to detoxify and cleanse the blood. Pine's action on the skin's system is good as a pediculicide, helps with excess perspiration, is cleansing and detoxifying, and helps with sores. For the muscular system, pine is good for aches and pains and aids in removal of uric acid from muscle tissue. In the urinary system, pine aids in infections and cystitis. In the nervous system, pine is effective with conditions of neuralgia and nervous exhaustion.
The balsamic fragrance of pine has a soothing effect on the mind
and helps in cases of anxiety and nervous tension. It is refreshing and
relaxing while being uplifting. It's fresh, 'outdoorsy' fragrance tends to make
us more in touch with the natural wildness, and thus can evoke expansive, free
types of feelings. It can stimulate us when we need energy, but in a soothing,
peaceful way.
During the Winter Holiday time of year, we have so much going on that it puts an added stress on us, physically, emotionally and psychologically. This affects our immune systems in a season known for colds, flu and respiratory ailments. I can't think of a better way to give us an added edge on our health than by using pine in our homes and workplaces.
Happiness and good health to All,
Jody L. Boda~Newell for Living Earth Herbalist Society
These newsletters are not meant to be used for diagnosing or to replace the care of a physician. All information contained in this newsletter is obtained through scientific research, years of research from other practicing aromatherapists and herbalists and my own personal experiences as a practicing aromatherapist and herbalist.
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