The Trumpet Tree or Congo Palm
On gully walks in St. John, Barbados, the roots of the Trumpet Tree a.k.a Pop-a-Gun or Congo Palm sc. Cecropia obtusifolia greet me as we enter into sacred union with nature. With hollow trunks, they can rise quickly above the forest canopy, reaching for the sun over 20 metres and bearing fruits that bats and birds love to feast on.
This towering but gentle giant of the gully bears an alien-looking bloom with red and white florets that cascade like worms.
The root system is sinewy and vigorous, making it so that you cannot miss an encounter with this majestic species. It is at once over the top and dramatic, yet held fast to the Earth.
Before rainfall, the leaves of the tree turn up towards the sky as if in anticipation of the moisture and aqueous downpour. The dried leaves remind me of my chest cavity; perhaps this is a lingering message, and the signature of how the medicine is used in our culture for respiratory illnesses such as asthma and to tone the lungs. It is widely viewed as a panacea, a cure-all in the Caribbean bush remedy arsenal.
I am currently working with this medicine in bath format using the root, trunk and leaves to catch its energetic light, to see what I can learn from its cloudy and brown decoction as it washes me.
Some of the medicinal usages include but aren’t limited to the following: the bark and leaves are anticoagulants, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour, astringent, cardiotonic, diuretic, hypotensive and vasodilators. A decoction of the young leaves is used to treat liver ailments and dropsy. A tea or decoction of the dried leaves or inner stem-bark is used to treat hypertension, kidney infections, heart conditions and nervous diseases, and to promote good kidney function. A tea prepared from the dried leaves is used as a treatment for back pain. An infusion of the leaves is sometimes injected vaginally after childbirth. The dried leaves are smoked to alleviate asthma. The juice of the plant is used as a caustic to remove warts and the sap used to treat fresh cuts. A decoction of the inner bark is used in the treatment of dysentery.
I am using this medicine and with it various Qigong exercises to increase lung capacity, toning and strength. In the coming months as my exploration continues I will update these diaristic experiences to bring a more fuller and involved reading to the Trumpet Tree.