eating pine tree

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gitarmac

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Jan 20, 2001
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I've read many posts on making pine needle tea and boiling the inner bark for food. I live in coastal ga and most of the pine trees are those tall ones with long needles. Will those do? Is a cypress tree a "pine tree"?

I've read several things on the medicinal qualities of pine needle tea and remembered my moms story. She had reumatic fever when she was a teen and was incompacitated for a year or so. My grandma had taken her to the local doctors and nothing helped. (this was in the 30's mind you) and then she heard of a doctor a few counties over and took mom there. The doctor prescribed pine pitch balls to consume and apparently it cured my mom! I have this story in my grandmas own writing.

So I'm thinking that consuming a little pine needle tea may be better than those health food store drinks, cheaper anyway. I'm not up on pine tree ID'ing though.
 
I grew up in rural north Lousisiana and have heard of many things, but never ever heard of eating any part of a pine tree. Personally I wouldn't advice it. If you do try it, please post the results.
A cypress tree is not a pine tree. It is related to sequoias or redwoods if I remember correctly.
 
Euell Gibbons was famous for his "many parts of a pine tree are edible" campaign back in the '70s. The reality is that pine pitch is both edible and medicinal, as are the leaves (needles). This includes traditional pines, plus fir, spruce, and juniper, with juniper being perhaps the most medicinal of all of them.

The pitch is mostly used externally, but can also be ingested as was prescribed for your mother. Different species have different flavors, and some might taste quite nasty.

The needles are good in tea form as they are very high in Vitamin C.

I publish a monthly newsletter about edible/medicinal wild plants; last month featured pine and it's various applications. Anyone who is interested can email me at bowden0317@msn.com for a free copy of the newsletter.

Coyo~
 
I've just got to ask, "What does it taste like?"
It must be something on the order of pot liquor with turpentine seasoning!
 
That is about as close as I've heard it described. We used pitch balls as remedies for sore throat ...dissolved them like cough candies in our mouth. It was both soothing (numbing) and a bit antiseptic.
-carl
 
This is from 'The Daily Telegraph' a couple of years ago. Ive never tried it though.


Hangover cure grows on trees
By Charles Clover
(Filed: 15/12/2001)


THE answer to Christmas hangovers may be closer to home than you think, according to the Forestry Commission which has found that pine needle tea is a cure for sore heads.

Researchers looking at traditional remedies found pine needles have been used around the world as a source of nutrition and medicine. It is used in Chinese medicine and by American indians to relieve stomach cramps.

Early European settlers in north America used pine tea, which the commission says has a high vitamin C content, to treat scurvy. Some ramblers use it to boost energy levels. Barbara Spence of the commission in Wales said: "We are always on the look-out for new ideas and novel aspects of forestry and woodlands.

"Its mild pleasant taste makes it a wonderful and different festive drink." The pine needles should be chopped and crushed, added to a saucepan of boiling water and brought to the boil again.

Let steep for 20 minutes, strain the mixture and serve hot or cold, sweetened or spiced with cinnamon or nutmeg. The commission said because the tea had medicinal properties it should not be drunk by pregnant women or people on medication without seeking advice from a doctor.



And this is a link to a website that describes this and other Native American recipes.

http://www.nativetech.org/food/pineneedletea.html

Hope this helps
D.
 
Covering pine needles in hot water will yield a tea with ostensibly 300% more vitamin C than orange juice. A good way to ward off scurvy in the wilds!
 
I think iroquois actually means pine tree or bark eater.

if it is not iroqouis it is a neighboring tribe in the north east.

I have made pine needle tea and also inner pine bark tea they both were kind of turpentine-ish but not hard to drink by any stretch of the imagination. I would much rather eat or drink that than a liver or stomach of any animal.
 
Well I stripped needles from little sapplings in my yard and made the tea. It was delicous with a little sugar!

The bark was different, I got it from a big tree in my yard. I had to hack at the outer bark quite a bit before I got to inner bark. I boiled it for over an hour (it was just a few small pieces) And changed the water once, it got red. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't very appetizing either. It was hard to swallow also. I would do it for medicanal purposes though.
 
Iroquois is an easily recognized name, but like the names of many tribes, it was given them by their enemies. The Algonquin called them the Iroqu (Irinakhoiw) "rattlesnakes." After the French added the Gallic suffix "-ois" to this insult, the name became Iroquois. The Iroquois call themselves Haudenosaunee meaning "people of the long house."
 
I believe the word "Appalachian" is the name that is derived from a native word meaning "tree-eaters", referring to the practice of eating the inner bark of pine trees during the lean winter months. Not positive on this one, but pretty sure.
 
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