Cottonwood Buds as Plant Medicine

By Kimberly Nicholas

If there is one smell I love during our beautiful Alaskan Springs, it’s that of the cottonwood bud.  The little springtime buds are filled with a sticky rust colored sap when they are closed.  They have a strong bright floral fragrance, and when you rub a few in your fingers and inhale the smell deeply, well that’s the best aromatherapy you can get.  Especially after a long cold Alaskan winter.  I remember loving the smell of it in the springtime as I played outside.  Sometimes after playing outside I would pull a few of those buds off the bottom of my shoe.  Later on I learned to pick cottonwood buds in the spring and use it to make plant medicine.  The sticky resin in the bud contains all the healing properties used to ease joint and muscle pain.  It should be picked before the bud opens up fully into leaves, so the medicinal properties can be extracted.   

I pick them with my family and put them in a mason jar with jojoba oil at a 1:2 ratio.  I poke holes in a coffee filter and cover the jars with that and secure it with rubber bands.  After the first few weeks of stirring the buds in the oil and then covering back up with the same coffee filter, they all drop to the bottom of the jar.  Once they drop to the bottom, it’s okay to leave it alone and let them steep for at least 6 months and up to a year or longer.  Stirring them before they fall to the bottom of the jar prevents any mold from growing.  Store the jars in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight. Once you are ready to use the oil, squeeze the buds out using a cheesecloth.  I save the buds that I squeeze out to put in a bath or freeze them for later use.  

I save the oil in the jars and use it as a massage rub.  It works well for muscle aches and pains, joint inflammation, muscle cramps, and to heal small cuts or scrapes.  I've used it on my kids when they have growing pains.  They soon forget about their pain and start playing again.  My husband rubs the infused oil on his knees after a long day of construction work and feels almost instant relief.  I use it on the bottom of my feet after a long day of work when I get heel pain, and I’m always amazed with how fast it works.  It's very useful and has become a staple in my household first aid kit.