Ash is a name worn by a few different trees, most notable of which are the White Ash, Black Ash, and Red Ash. Most popularly known and used is the White Ash, whose wood is used whenever strength and lightness must be combined with elasticity, such as for tool handles and baseball bats. Red Ash wood is similar to White Ash; Black Ash, which grows in moist and swampy soils is a bit different. When wet, the Black's narrow growth rings can be pounded loose into slats from which strong baskets can be woven.

Only the Red Ash has been used for food. The Ojibwas scraped the inner bark into fluffy layers and cooked it into a meal that is said to taste like eggs. As a medicine this bark is taken as a tonic for general fatigue and depression.

The seeds of the White Ash have been eaten by peoples but only as a medicine. Wildlife eat them as part of a regular diet. People have found their qualities to be aperient, diuretic, and aphrodisiac, and have used them for intermittent fever and to prevent obesity.

All three Ashes have a reputation in one place or another as a preventative for venomous snake bites. Native Americans and European Gypsies found a decoction of the buds or bark or leaves ( 1 tsp steeped in a cup of boiling water for 30 minutes and 2 - 4 cups drunk per day) of the Black and/or White Ash taken internally to be a remedy against rattlesnake and adder bites. The leaves can also be applied topically to the wound. Northern tribes used to carry White Ash leaves or wear the bark in their moccasins as an anti-snake talisman. The pioneers continued this tradition by making cradle rockers from Ash wood, a tradition that survived even into the 1930's.

In a similar vein, the leaves of both the White and Red Ash have been rubbed on mosquito and other insect bites to reduce the swelling and itching.

The juice of the White Ash that oozes and drips out the end of a green log when it is burned has been taken internally and applied externally to cure a canker. A few drops of this juice placed in the ear has been used as a treatment for earache. In the case of deafness a strong infusion of Goldthread (Coptis groenlanica) has been mixed with the Ash juice, dropped into the ear and then the ear covered well.

The inner bark of the Black Ash, to be similar and yet different, is soaked in warm water and then the liquid is applied to sore eyes. This liquid has also been used as a remedy for internal ailments, perhaps due to its laxative properties.

The inner bark of White Ash has been made into a strong concoction to use as a wash for sores and the itch (scabies) When cooked down to a molasses consistency, it's been used as a treatment for old sores. Itch of the scalp due to vermin has been treated the same way, as has eczema.

Faxoside, a glucoside containing coumarin, has been found in the inner bark of both White and Black Ash. Perhaps this is the active ingredient that has helped White Ash bark to be used as an alternative for the glands, a tonic for the digestive system, a laxative for constipation, an astringent cleanser - strengthener of the internal mucous linings and external skin surfaces, a diuretic for urinary troubles and edema (dropsy), an anti-periodic for intermittent fevers and ague and as a sudorific. The combined properties of astringency and of being a laxative would contribute to its being used for haemorrhoids.

The usual method of preparation is to steep a heaping teaspoon of the inner bark in a cup of boiling water for 30 minutes. Drink a 1/2 cup at a time, and but a total of one cup per day. For weight loss, drink 4 ounces per day.

Ash sap is a demulcent used for soothing, softening, protecting, and toning of dry, inflamed or irritated mucous membranes and skin surfaces.

The smokers in our human family may be interested to know that the Ojibwas dried the bud tips of the White Ash to use as a tobacco substitute or in a mix to stretch the tobacco supply.