Eating and medicating with native trees and shrubs

Eating and medicating with native trees and shrubs 

Maple

In winter the natural landscape often seems devoid of plants that could sustain or heal you in a survival situation but indigenous people knew that the trees around them could provide many things even in winter.  In the warm seasons of the year trees and shrubs provided many important foods and medicines.  While you may look around your landscape at the pines, oaks, and other native woody plants and not know all the uses they have indigenous people were always aware of the benefits nature could provide.  When Europeans brought plant species that naturalized in the new world, curious and resourceful native people found new uses for them too.

Today I am going to discuss some native North American trees and the food and medicinal uses that they have.  Because of space and time limitations my descriptions will be brief but if you are interested you can research them further.  

Maples

Almost everyone knows maple trees produce one very sweet food, maple syrup and maple sugar.  While there are species of maples native to Europe and Asia, only North Americans made maple syrup or sugar from their sap.  It may be because the maples here, sugar maples and red maples in particular, have a higher concentration of sugar in their sap or it may be that our climate has weather more suited to a concentrated sap “run” in the early spring. 

In the spring when days go a little above freezing and are sunny, but the nights fall back below freezing is the time when maple trees are tapped for their sap.  Once the trees bud the sap loses much of its sugar content.  Any species of maple can be used for syrup, including Box Elder trees, which are in the maple family. The sap is boiled to concentrate it and reduce the water content, making a syrup, and it can be boiled until it becomes a granular sugar also.

 Indigenous people in the North Eastern woodlands of North America were making maple syrup and sugar hundreds of years before Europeans arrived.  Tribes often claimed areas of land where maples were plentiful and moved there to camp when someone decided the sap was ready to harvest.  After a winter when food was often scarce and bland the time of maple sugar harvest was a cause for celebration as well as hard work.  Before Europeans introduced the honey bee to the Americas, maple sugar was the best source of sugar for native people and they harvested as much as they could each spring. 

Native Americans did use some maple syrup in the spring for cooking and for making candy but most sap was boiled down to sugar because it kept better in this form and was easier to store.  The sugar was used all year to cook with, to hide the taste of bitter medicines, to make sweetened drinks, and to trade with tribes who did not have much access to maples. Maple sap was sometimes blended with the sap of other trees for special uses.

Native Americans believed that consuming maple syrup and sugar was good for their health and modern research has confirmed that.  There are at least 20 beneficial phenolics, phytohormones and other anti-oxidant compounds in maple sap, they are especially beneficial when they are concentrated into syrup. Modern research is testing some of those compounds for anti- cancer, anti-bacterial and surprisingly, anti-diabetic properties.  Maple syrup is also high in zinc, thiamine and calcium.

But Native Americans knew of other uses for the maple also.  Dried inner bark of maples was used to make an eye wash for sore eyes.  Maple sap was drunk at many times of the year if water was scarce.  After Europeans introduced native people to iron pots, the native people discovered that boiling the bark of maples, white oaks and Eastern hemlock together in those pots would remove rust from the pots.

Birch

There are many types of native birches, sweet birch Betula lenta is most commonly harvested for food and medicinal use but other species can be used.

Birch trees were also tapped for syrup; this was done even in some northern European countries in ancient times.  Birch sap was often allowed to ferment into a type of beer. Birch sap contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, phosphorous, iron, sodium, and amino acids. It is also rich in vitamin C and B-vitamins like thiamine. Xylitol, a type of sugar currently used in many foods, is made from birch sap.

However birch has many uses in both modern and ancient times for almost every part of the tree.  Most of us know Native Americans used birch bark for canoes, and that it can be used in place of paper. Native people fashioned the bark into containers also.  But birch bark and twigs contains oil that has properties almost identical to wintergreen oil and most commercial ‘wintergreen oil” is now derived from birch bark.  The oil distilled from birch bark was commonly known as Birch Tar and is still used used for a variety of skin problems, eczema, rashes, dandruff and scalp problems, sores, and for rubbing on sore, stiff joints.

Native Americans chewed on birch twigs to ease stomach cramps, diarrhea and indigestion.  Leaves, buds and twigs of birch are steeped into a tea for their diuretic properties and used for urinary tract infections, kidney stones and to reduce edema. Birch tea is also mildly sedative.  Externally a birch tea was also used for skin problems and was pored through the hair to strengthen it.  Tea steeped from leaves and twigs contains a compound known as betulinic acid.   Modern research is testing this acid for actinic keratosis, a skin problem,  anti - cancer properties, particularly for melanoma, bladder and kidney cancers, and for treating AIDS. 

Black Walnuts

Black walnuts produce an edible nut that while hard to harvest is quite tasty.  Native American collected and stored the nuts for eating fresh and cooking.  Unripe nuts were made into fermented, catsup-like sauce. Black walnut trees can also be tapped for syrup and that syrup flow is generally later than maple and birch sap flow. 

Black walnuts in husk

Most medicinal uses of black walnut come from the green outer husks of the nut. Occasionally leaves are also steeped for tea.  Walnut husks were collected and dried by Native Americans for later medicinal use.  Teas or tinctures were made from the dried powdered husks or by steeping green husks.  The husks contain tannins which have astringent and antiseptic properties. Black walnut tea is a mild laxative, said to not make people nauseous or cause cramps. The tea was used to expel worms, as a gargle to heal sore throats and dry up mucous, externally to reduce pain and swelling, and for the treatment of syphilis, diphtheria and leukemia. A tincture made from black walnut hulls, wormwood, and cloves is an old remedy for cancer. (There is no current medical research using walnut husks as treatment for those diseases.) 

Mixed with fat of some type, powdered walnut husks were used in all sorts of treatments for skin conditions such as scabies, ringworm and infections both in human and veterinary medicine.

Black walnut husk tea was used to darken hair and cover gray hair.  It can be used to stain things or as an ink substitute.

Beechnut

Beechnuts were once common across Eastern North America and they were very important to Native Americans and to wildlife.  They are not common anymore but if you have the chance and the room, try planting a few of these useful trees.   They grow best on fertile loam soils, and early pioneers looked for them when choosing farmland.  Beech trees produce tiny brown nuts that are a favorite of mice, chipmunks and many birds, they were said to be a favorite of the extinct passenger pigeon.  Native Americans preferred to raid the caches of tiny animals rather than collect the nuts themselves.

Beechnuts were boiled to rid them of some tannins, then roasted and pounded into flour by Native Americans.  The flour was used to produce ” breads” and to thicken soups. The roasted nuts were also used to brew a rich drink. Even to the mid- nineteenth century roasted ground beechnuts were found on grocery store shelves as a tasty substitute for coffee.  Powdered nuts were also used for headaches and epilepsy.

Raw beech nuts can be pressed to produce an oil and this oil had many uses.  It was used to expel worms when taken internally, mixed with fat to make a mosquito repellant and used on the skin to heal poison ivy rash, frostbite, burns and ulcers.  Early pioneers used beech oil in their oil lamps.

Other parts of the beech tree such as bark, leaves and root pieces are made into teas and infusions.  Beech teas were used for lung complaints such as TB, as was the sap of beech trees. A TB cure using beech sap persisted well into the 1900’s.  Beech teas in concentrated forms were used to cause abortions.  Milder teas were used for diabetes, stomach ulcers and chronic diarrhea.  Teas and infusions were used externally for burns, rashes, frostbite and other skin problems.

Willow

When people think of willows they often picture weeping willows, which is an introduced species or the brushy Pussy willows that grow in wet land.  Those willows do share many qualities with the Black willow, a large tree willow native to the Northern US, and a tree that was important to Native American cultures. 

Willows were of course woven into baskets and mats and willow saplings were often woven into fences surrounding Native American food crops.  Willows also had very important medicinal qualities too. Willow bark, roots and twigs contain salicin-which is the compound modern aspirin is derived from.  Teas made from twigs or powdered roots and bark were used to treat pain inflammation and fevers.  In an emergency situation you can brew a tea of willow twigs and get some relief from pain and fever.  Modern research has found that willow bark contains called polyphenols and flavonoids, as well as salicin, that have antioxidant, fever reducing, antiseptic, and immune boosting properties.

Black willow

The bark of willows was burned in sweat lodges of Native Americans to relieve arthritic pain.  Poultices of willow tea are used for joint pain, or painful skin conditions.  Native Americans and some people today believe that drinking willow tea helps weight loss.  Pregnant women should not use willow tea or other willow products because it can cause increased bleeding at birth.

Basswood or Linden

When the French explored around Detroit they found a lot of these beautiful, white wooded trees and named the Island Bois Blanc after them.  This is another tree that has disappeared from landscapes that should be planted more often.  When honey bees were introduced to the Americas they found the blossoms of these trees delightfully good for making honey.  Basswood also carries the puzzling common name of lime tree, it is not a citrus relative.

The beautiful sweet smelling flowers were made into tea by Native Americans just for its delightful taste.  In folk medicine tea from the flowers is used for colds, headaches, high blood pressure, and as a mild sedative.  However some herbalists warn that too much basswood flower tea may cause heart problems.  The flowers are also infused for perfume.

A tea made from powdered Basswood bark was mixed with cornmeal and put on infected wounds as a poultice.  This bark tea was also drunk to cure diarrhea.   A tea of Basswood leaves was used to wash infected eyes.

Basswood wood is burned into charcoal and this charcoal was used to treat gall bladder problems, and in external ointments for cellulitis and skin ulcers.  The wood is also known for making great guitars. Native Americans soaked Basswood bark and then extracted strong fibers from it for various uses.

 Hickory

As a child I remember eating hickory nuts from a big tree across the street.  There was also a hickory tree in my grade school yard.  But do you know where there is a hickory tree now? The trees do not start bearing nuts until they are about 40 years old and then only produce nuts every other year or so. This makes people reluctant to plant them.  The lumber of hickories is very hard and produces the most energy of any firewood. It was prized for tool handles and the Native Americans used it for their bows.  The slow growth and admirable qualities of hickories are what probably makes them scarce today.

Shagbark hickories were, however, once common across the eastern US.  They are large, majestic trees with bark that curls off the tree in long strips. Like walnuts, the roots of hickories produce juglone, a toxic substance that keeps many plants from growing in their root zone. 

The nuts of hickories are popular with both humans and animals. They have a hard green husk that needs to be removed and then the tan nut shell needs to be cracked to get at the meat.  Native Americans and early Europeans pounded the nut meats into flour and used it in breads and for thickening and flavoring soups.  The nuts can also be pressed for their oil.  Native Americans used hickory nut oil mixed with bear fat and applied it to the skin as an insect repellant. Early colonists often used hickory nuts in candies and cakes.

Small twigs of hickory were placed on hot stones in sweat lodges and the steam was inhaled for treatment of headaches and arthritic pain. The bark of the hickory is boiled in water and made into warm poultices for aching joints.

Sassafras

Sassafras is a small tree native to North America with orange brown bark and oddly shaped, mitten like leave which vary in shape from leaf to leaf.  The leaves have a delicious spicy smell when crushed.  The trees produce inconspicuous greenish flowers that are loved by bees and followed by small blue berries.  The trees have large extensive roots covered with a corky bark.  It is the roots that make sassafras a difficult tree to transplant and get established, although once established it will sprout back from the roots if the trunk is destroyed.  It is a pretty tree with an interesting history if you can get it established in the landscape.

Sassafras

 It was the roots of the sassafras tree that quickly became the first plant product to be imported from North America to Europe.  Large quantities of sassafras root were transported to Europe in colonial times where it was hailed as the cure for almost everything.  The early economy of the Plymouth colony was very dependent on the exportation of sassafras root.  Even prior to that Spanish explorers of Florida and the southern coastline brought small trees and berries back and trees were growing in England by the mid-1600’s.  In North America and Mexico the leaves, berries, twigs and bark were also used in various concoctions by indigenous peoples.

Native Americans and later European settlers used the dried leaves of sassafras as a flavoring and thickener for soups and stews as well as drinks.  Filѐ powder, a spice mix used in Cajun cooking, is made from ground sassafras leaves.  The powdered leaves have a scent and flavor somewhat like cinnamon. Twigs, leaves and pieces of root bark are steeped for teas and cold drinks.  Sassafras tea was a common tonic used in spring for general malaise, (often caused by scurvy), and for colds, both for Native Americans and early settlers.  Root beer (both alcoholic and not), was once flavored with sassafras.  A drink made with milk and sugar and sassafras tea called 'Saloop,' was once popular in Colonial America and Europe. It was said that if twigs of sassafras were chewed that the addiction to tobacco could be cured.

The corky bark from the roots is also used as a much stronger remedy. All parts of the plant contain a potent drug called safrole, but it is most concentrated in the root bark.  A concentrated oil can be distilled from the roots. CAUTION:  Safrole can cause the heart to stop and cause destruction of the liver and kidneys so in 1973 the FDA banned the sale of sassafras tea and use of the drug medicinally, although folk remedies still exist.  Safrole, natural or synthetic, is used to make the illegal and dangerous drug MDMA or Ecstasy. Safrole is also known to cause genetic mutations and has been linked to cancer of the throat and esophagus. If you experiment with sassafras remedies please do so very carefully.

Native Americans gave women a tea from sassafras root bark during labor, probably to increase contractions, as the root bark tea has been known to cause abortions. It was also used for urinary tract infections and kidney stones. Usually they used the bark teas externally, on sores, insect bites and for arthritic pain.  A tea was also used on the hair to kill lice.  The Spaniards brought sassafras root bark teas back to Europe and claimed they could cure malaria and venereal diseases. This sparked a century or so where sassafras teas were a cure-all for everything and the potent oil and bark tea was used in all kinds of elixirs, which may have done more harm than good.

The essential oils from sassafras bark are still used in perfumes and cosmetics to a small extent.  A yellow dye can be made from sassafras root.  There are no known modern medical benefits of sassafras.

Sumac

There are 3 common members of the Rhus family or Sumacs that are edible and they occur throughout the eastern US.  Staghorn and Smooth sumac are very similar and it takes an expert to differentiate between them.  They are small trees or shrubs with many stems up to 10 feet or so tall. They have compound leaves consisting of 11-31 narrow leaflets that turn beautifully scarlet in fall.  They have inconspicuous flowers of greenish white that turn into clusters of hairy scarlet seeds in the fall.  The other species, Fragrant sumac, is a bit smaller than Staghorn or Smooth sumac, has only 3 leaflets and yellow flowers.  Poisonous sumac, which is quite rare here, grows in swampy areas and has white berries.  It should not be eaten of course- or handled as it produces a painful rash.

Sumacs are related to cashews and can cause allergic reactions in some people.  If you are allergic to cashews don’t use sumac for eating or medicine.  Also use sumac sparingly until you see if you are allergic.

Many people have heard of making  “lemonade” from sumac drupes (they are not berries though often called that). The red drupes are covered with fine hairs and it is these hairs that impart a tart, pleasant citrus taste to water.  To make “sumacade” pick fresh red sumac drupes in early fall. Use several large clusters of drupes to a quart of water. Soak them in cold water overnight, strain the liquid through cheesecloth, sweeten if desired and drink. It has a citrusy taste. This liquid can also be used in cooking, such as poaching fish. Do not soak sumac drupes in boiling water as heat causes a bitter taste. Sumac drink is high in vitamin C as well as pleasant tasting.

Native Americans had another use for sumac drupes.  They were gathered, dried and crushed then mixed with tobacco or with other herbs to smoke.  This was another plant that had economic value to early colonists. The dried sumac drupes were once more popular than tobacco in Europe for smoking and the colonists exported large quantities of them. Dried sumac leaves were also smoked. Native Americans also made pipe stems from sumac.

Staghorn sumac

The leaves and young peeled stems of sumac were often eaten in early spring by Native Americans and early settlers.  Native children would strip a sumac stem of bark and chew on the twig as a treat. Leaves, stems and roots of sumac are used to make various dye colors.

Sumac roots are used in a number of folk remedies.  A sumac root tea was used for sore throat and diseases of the mouth, teeth and gums.  Sumac root tea was also used as a douche for female problems and externally on wounds and rashes.  Sumac root tea was also a common remedy for diarrhea.

Sumac makes a pretty hedge with an edible component in the landscape but beware that it spreads rapidly by suckering and seeding.  Some ornamental species of sumac are now offered, some of them are natives of other countries.  Use care in eating these species from other countries as little is known about their properties.

Oaks

There are a number of species of Oaks that are native to North America and the seeds of oaks, called acorns, have always been important to humans and animals as food.  Other parts of the oak from leaves to roots were also part of folk medicine and food.  Oaks are long lived, majestic trees and were often sacred trees to various indigenous people on this continent and others. 

As far as oaks go, each tree has a different tasting acorn. The white oak was the preferred species of oak to gather acorns from in the Eastern US and certain trees had better tasting acorns than others. These better trees were marked and remembered by native people from year to year. Oaks usually bear acorns heavily one year and then sparsely or not at all the next year.

Bur Oak acorns

Acorns are gathered when they fall and stored for winter use. Underground caches of acorns stored by Native Americans have been found that date back 3,000 years. The outer shell is removed and the inner meat is first leached in several changes of water to remove tannins that would make the taste bitter.  The acorn meat is then dried and ground and pounded into flour. The work is labor intensive but this flour is quite nutritious, high in protein and fat.

Native Americans and the early colonists used acorn flour to make flat cakes cooked over the fire, in soups and stews and they mixed it with fat and dried berries to make the survival or travel food called pemmican.  Acorn flour was often used to extend wheat or corn flour.

Acorns are also an important feed for hogs. Colonists herded hogs into oak forests in the fall to fatten them and collected acorns for winter feeding.

The inner bark of oak trees was carefully collected as to not damage the tree, ground and used in teas for various ailments. The inner bark of oaks was also eaten as a survival food in times of scarcity.  Powdered oak bark was used for colds and sore throats, for cancers and tumors, for diarrhea and externally as a poultice for hemorrhoids, boils, and skin conditions. A poultice of oak bark powder and boiling water cooled just enough not to burn the skin is said to draw out splinters and other foreign bodies. It is the astringent tannins that probably make these cures useful. 

Oak bark tea is also a diuretic and has been used for bladder infections and to relieve edema. Oak bark tea is also taken to kill intestinal worms. Modern medicine is studying various extracts of oak bark for cancer treatment. Modern herbalists recommend two gelatin capsules of powdered oak bark taken with a glass of water three to four times a day for diarrhea.

Oak roots are used to produce dye.  Some native tribes burnt pieces of oak root and had people who were going to undergo surgery (such as to cut out an arrowhead) inhale the smoke.  It was said to ease pain.  The lumber of oak trees is strong and durable and used for building and furniture.

White Pine

White pines once covered vast areas of the northeastern US.  These trees were ancient giants when Europeans arrived and began cutting them for lumber. Now white pine stands are few and virgin, ancient stands almost non- existent.  White pines have uses other than lumber however, and Native Americans used them much like other trees we have discussed as sources of food and medicine.  Note: other types of pine can usually be used much like white pines.

In the spring Native Americans gathered white pine needles and boiled them in maple sap for a restorative, nutritious drink.  White pine needles have 5 times as much Vitamin C as a similar weight of lemons and they are also high in Vitamin A.  Early colonists and explorers used this drink to prevent scurvy.  The needles were also boiled with water into a hot tea to treat colds and sore throats. When water wasn’t available the needles were chewed.

The seeds of white pines are shaken from the cones when they fall and open up and the dried seeds are powdered and used as a spice in Native American dishes. The inner bark of white pines can be eaten as a survival food. If you have fat, the soft white inner bark can be cut in pieces and fried.  Native American and early settlers chewed hardened lumps of pine sap like we chew gum. Pine sap was useful as a “cough drop” and is still found in some cough drops on the market.  Pine pollen is high in a testosterone like substance and is gathered and used as a male “stimulative.”

Spruce

Many species of spruce are native to the US and spruce needles and bark are used much like pine.  The needles can be boiled in maple sap or water and used like pine needles.  A spruce beer fermented from spruce sap was once popular with early colonists.  Spruce sap makes a good chewing gum also.

Interesting fact: The word Adirondack is Iroquois for bark eater.  Native Americans in the Eastern forests often consumed tree bark. 

These are not all of the native woody plants that can be eaten or used medicinally but for the sake of space and time I’ll stop here.