Trees Stripped For Medicinal Bark For Herbal Market

Daniel Boone National Forest (AP) The 20-foot tree stands half naked surrounded by the lush green of the forest. Stripped of its lifeline to nutrients and water, it only has months to live.

"It doesn't know it's dead," says David Taylor, a U.S. Forest Service botanist for the Daniel Boone National Forest, pointing overhead to the healthy leaves that pose a stark contrast to the rest of the tree's withering body.

This slippery elm has fallen victim to thieves who tore off its bark for profit in the ever-popular herbal remedy market. The gummy lining of the tree's bark has long been used in North America, and especially Appalachia, as a soothing agent for coughs, gastrointestinal ailments and skin irritations. However, experts say a growing interest in herbal products is exhausting many native plants like slippery elm, once used seasonally by locals, now in demand by millions.

"I think that trend is going to put pressure on limited resources such as the slippery elm," said Dr. Michael Hirt, founding director for the Center for Integrative Medicine in Tarzana, Calif.

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