Rhododendron - The Herb

General description and domicile:
The Alpenrose is a smallish shrub that grows on the slopes of the Alps and Pyrenees. It hardly ever grows taller than three feet with alternate deep green oval leaves and striking yellow (Rhododendron Chrysanthum) or pink (Rhododendron Ferrigineum) flowers that bloom from spring to fall.
Neither specie does particularly well as an ornamental garden plant - it is far better to use the tamed garden species for that purpose. The Azaleas, a subspecies of Rhododendron are easier to flower in the garden.

All rhododendrons are poisonous and there are several recordings of accidental fatalities of people and pets who ate the leaves which contains the toxins as well as the therapeutic benefits.
 

Remedy Profile
Major therapeutic effects:
I have very little on this plant in my quite extensive library. It is mentioned briefly in A Modern Herbal by Mrs. Grieve and even more sparsely covered in other documentation.

Rheumatism

Gout

Urinary tract infections

Minor therapeutic effects:
It has been used in Mongolia and Siberia for the treatment of syphilis but I have not been able to verify this or determine which constituent is responsible for these claims

How to choose the right remedy/Herb:
In many cases there are several herbal remedies to choose from. This can be very confusing. Our Choose the Herbal Remedy page explains how to refine your choice

Part used:
Leaves
 

Remedy preparation:
From the very little information that I have been able to glean it appears that only an infusion is used.
 

History:
The Mongolians valued a tea made from the leaves of Rhododendron to ease the aches of weary limbs when hunting. In Siberia it was mostly used for rheumatism and gout
 

Properties:
Anti-inflammatory
Antiseptic
Diuretic


Constituents:

There is even less information about the constituents of this plant. We know that it is toxic and extreme care must be taken when handling but there are hundreds of species of Rhododendron and they all seem to have different constituents and differences in the levels of constituents.

I give hereunder my guess (based on the most common constituents in several publications of a great variety of species). My opinion is that it excludes some of the most significant constituents, the most important a very virulent poison that I could not define:

Carvone: A Monoterpene Hydrocarbon.

Carvone has been identified in a study supported by the US National Cancer Institute to have some increasing effect in levels of glutathione S-transferase (a detoxifying enzyme) in mice (Zheng and colleagues 1992)

Arbutin: a Phenylpropanoid.

Arbutin is diuretic and antibacterial. In the cosmetic and beauty therapy industries it is used as a antioxidant skin conditioner.

Arbutin hydrolyses to hydroquinone in urine and is good for urinary infections, urethritis, prostatitis and cystitis.

Linanool: Linalool one of the terpene alcohols is widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Linalool has strong effects on the nervous system and is therefore widely used by aroma therapists and herbologists as a sedative, spasmolytic and local anaesthetic. It is also used against many skin complaints, mostly in the form of tea tree oil.