Betulaceae Betula papyrifera Marsh.
Paper Birch
Thompson - Drug, Contraceptive
Use documented by:
Turner, Nancy J., Laurence C. Thompson and M. Terry Thompson et al., 1990, Thompson Ethnobotany: Knowledge and Usage of Plants by the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, Victoria. Royal British Columbia Museum, page 189
View all documented uses for
Betula papyrifera Marsh.
Scientific name: Betula papyrifera Marsh.
USDA symbol: BEPAP (
View details at USDA PLANTS site)
Common names: Paper Birch
Family: Betulaceae
Family (APG): Betulaceae
Native American Tribe: Thompson
Use category: Drug
Use sub-category: Contraceptive
Notes: Bark used for contraception. One informant recalled a case in which a woman in childbirth did not want any more children. An old woman told her to take the afterbirth, stick it with an old bone awl, wrap it in fishnet and then in a piece of birch bark and place it high up on a particular kind of tree. The patient was then given an infusion of bitter cherry or saskatoon wood and after that had no more children
RECRD: 32616 id: 7302