Birch
Betula alba L.
[a.k.a.] Betula pendula Roth.
[a.k.a.] Betula verrucosa Ehrh.
Betula papyrifera Marsh
“An abundant chemical found in the bark of common birch trees appears in experiments on animals to be highly effective in the treatment of melanoma, an often fatal type of skin cancer, scientists said yesterday. The researchers said they expect to begin clinical studies of the chemical's effectiveness on human melanoma patients this year. The substance, betulinic acid, has been known to botanists and pharmacologists for decades, but had not previously been tried as a possible treatment for melanoma, said researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
- from a wire service article, ca. Spring, 1995
decoction of inner bark can be used for intermittent fevers
