Witnessed by: Unani
Grey oak (Quercus incana), of the Fagaceae family. Evergreen Himalayan oak with leathery leaves white-woolly beneath, bearing acorns in a scaly cup; native range: The outer and middle Himalaya from Kashmir through the Indian hill states to Nepal, 1000–2500 m, forming whole forests on the slopes. Globally recognized as balloot (بلوط) in Arabic, baloot in Urdu, ban, banj in Hindi, and grey oak, white oak of the Himalaya, ban oak in English. The part used is acorn (the kernel); also the bark and the cup. A hard, brown, pointed acorn, the kernel pale and mealy within, harshly astringent and bitterish, puckering the mouth with tannin.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
GREY OAK
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- grey oak
- Scientific name
- Quercus incana Roxb.
- Family
- Fagaceae
Form
- Part used
- acorn (the kernel); also the bark and the cup
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Unani
- astringent (qabid) · bitter
Temperature
- Unani
- cold & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- stomach · intestines · uterus · blood
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Unani
- qabid (astringent), habis-ud-dam (styptic), muqawwi-e-me'da wa amaa (tonic to stomach and bowel), and mujaffif (drying of moist discharges)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- constipation and dry, hard bowel; obstruction of the viscera — the acorn is cold, dry and strongly binding
- Toxicity
- low in dose; the tannin of long or large use burdens the stomach and the liver and hinders nourishment
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.