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Pinus strobus - L.

White Pine

Author	L.	Botanical references	11, 43, 200
Family	Pinaceae	Genus	Pinus
Synonyms
Known Hazards	The wood, sawdust and resins from various species of pine can cause dermatitis in sensitive people[222].
Range	Eastern N. America - Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Georgia.
Habitat	Woods, especially on sandy drift soils or fertile well-drained soils, sometimes on river banks and rarely in swamps[82]. Often forming dense forests[235].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	3 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen Tree growing to 20m by 5m at a fast rate.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. It cannot tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Canopy;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers; Inner bark; Seed.

Edible Uses: Condiment; Drink; Gum; Tea.

Seed - raw or cooked[102, 159]. Rather small and fiddly, it is only about 6mm long[200]. The seed is mainly used as a flavouring in cooking[213]. The fresh needles are brewed into an aromatic tea that is rich in vitamins A and C[183]. A refreshing drink is made from the leaves[159]. An acceptable candy is made by boiling the tender new shoots in syrup[183]. The sticky amber sap can be used for chewing[102, 159]. A vanillin flavouring is obtained as a by-product of other resins that are released from the pulpwood[200]. The firm unexpanded male cones can be boiled and used as a flavouring[177, 183]. A pleasant sweet flavour[257]. Inner bark - raw or cooked. A sweet flavour[105, 159, 161, 213]. There are no more details but inner bark is often dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickener in soups etc or added to cereals when making bread.

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Antiscorbutic; Demulcent; Diuretic; Expectorant; Miscellany; Pectoral; Poultice; Salve.

White pine was employed medicinally by several native North American Indian tribes who valued it especially for its antiseptic and vulnerary qualities, using it extensively in the treatment of skin complaints, wounds, burns, boils etc[257]. It is also very beneficial to the respiratory system and so was used in treating coughs, colds, influenza and so on[257]. The turpentine obtained from the resin of all pine trees is antiseptic, diuretic, rubefacient and vermifuge[4]. It is a valuable remedy used internally in the treatment of kidney and bladder complaints and is used both internally and as a rub and steam bath in the treatment of rheumatic affections[4]. It is also very beneficial to the respiratory system and so is useful in treating diseases of the mucous membranes and respiratory complaints such as coughs, colds, influenza and TB[4]. Externally it is a very beneficial treatment for a variety of skin complaints, wounds, sores, burns, boils etc and is used in the form of liniment plasters, poultices, herbal steam baths and inhalers[4]. A poultice of pitch has been used to draw out toxins from boils and reduce the pain[257]. The dried inner bark is demulcent, diuretic and expectorant[4]. An infusion was used as a treatment for colds[213] and it is still used as an ingredient in commercial cough syrups, where it serves to promote the expulsion of phlegm[213]. A poultice made from the pounded inner bark is used to treat cuts, sores and wounds[213]. The wetted inner bark can be used as a poultice on the chest in treating strong colds[257]. The dried inner bark contains 10% tannin, some mucilage, an oleoresin, a glycoside and a volatile oil[213]. A tea made from the young needles is used to treat sore throats[213]. It is a good source of vitamin C and so is effective against scurvy[213]. An infusion of the young twigs has been used in the treatment of kidney disorders and pulmonary complaints[257]. The powdered wood has been used as a dressing on babies chaffed skin, sores and improperly healed navels[257].

Other Uses

Dye; Herbicide; Pitch; Waterproofing; Wood.

A tan or green dye is obtained from the needles[168]. The needles contain a substance called terpene, this is released when rain washes over the needles and it has a negative effect on the germination of some plants, including wheat[201]. Oleo-resins are present in the tissues of all species of pines, but these are often not present in sufficient quantity to make their extraction economically worthwhile[64]. The resins are obtained by tapping the trunk, or by destructive distillation of the wood[4, 64]. In general, trees from warmer areas of distribution give the higher yields[64]. Turpentine consists of an average of 20% of the oleo-resin[64] and is separated by distillation[4, 64]. Turpentine has a wide range of uses including as a solvent for waxes etc, for making varnish, medicinal etc[4]. Rosin is the substance left after turpentine is removed. This is used by violinists on their bows and also in making sealing wax, varnish etc[4]. Pitch can also be obtained from the resin and is used for waterproofing canoes, containers etc, as a wood preservative etc[257]. Wood - straight and close-grained, light, soft, not strong, works easily and takes an excellent natural or painted finish[46, 61, 82, 171, 226, 229]. It weighs 24lb per cubic foot[235]. A very valuable timber[235], the wood is especially suited for making the masts of ships[4] and is also used for lumber, cheap furniture, house interiors, construction etc[46, 61, 82, 171, 226, 229].

Cultivation details

Thrives in a light well-drained sandy or gravelly loam[1, 11]. Dislikes poorly drained moorland soils[1]. Established plants tolerate drought[200]. Intolerant of atmospheric pollution[188]. The white pine is a very important timber crop in its native range, the huge stands that existed before the Europeans went to N. America have been largely cut down[229]. It is a fast-growing and fairly long-lived tree[229] that is often cultivated as a timber tree, especially in central Europe[50]. Young trees grow very vigorously with new shoots of up to 1 metre common. Growth slows and almost ceases by the time the tree is 20 metres tall[185]. Trees can produce cones when 5 - 10 years old, but reliable seed production takes another 10 years[229]. Good crops are produced every 3 - 5 years in the wild, with little seed in the intervening years[229]. The cones are 10 - 20cm long and take 2 years to mature[82, 229], they open and shed their seed in late summer whilst still attached to the tree[82, 226]. Plants often self-sow in Britain[185]. Plants are strongly outbreeding, self-fertilized seed usually grows poorly[200]. They hybridize freely with other members of this genus[200]. Trees have a very thin bark, which makes them particularly susceptible to forest fires[226]. This species is very susceptible to white pine blister rust, it should not be grown near any gooseberries or currants (Ribes species) since these plants can act as vectors for the disease[1, 120]. Plants are also subject to aphid damage[1]. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[200]. Leaf secretions inhibit the germination of seeds, thereby reducing the amount of plants that can grow under the trees[18].

Propagation

It is best to sow the seed in individual pots in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe if this is possible otherwise in late winter. A short stratification of 6 weeks at 4°c can improve the germination of stored seed[80]. Plant seedlings out into their permanent positions as soon as possible and protect them for their first winter or two[11]. Plants have a very sparse root system and the sooner they are planted into their permanent positions the better they will grow[K]. Trees should be planted into their permanent positions when they are quite small, between 30 and 90cm[200]. We actually plant them out when they are about 5 - 10cm tall. So long as they are given a very good weed-excluding mulch they establish very well[K]. Larger trees will check badly and hardly put on any growth for several years. This also badly affects root development and wind resistance[200]. Cuttings. This method only works when taken from very young trees less than 10 years old. Use single leaf fascicles with the base of the short shoot. Disbudding the shoots some weeks before taking the cuttings can help. Cuttings are normally slow to grow away[81].

Links

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[64] Howes. F. N. Vegetable Gums and Resins. Faber 0
A very good book dealing with the subject in a readable way.

[80] McMillan-Browse. P. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. Grower Books 1985 ISBN 0-901361-21-6
Does not deal with many species but it is very comprehensive on those that it does cover. Not for casual reading.

[81] Rushforth. K. Conifers. Christopher Helm 1987 ISBN 0-7470-2801-X
Deals with conifers that can be grown outdoors in Britain. Good notes on cultivation and a few bits about plant uses.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[102] Kavasch. B. Native Harvests. Vintage Books 1979 ISBN 0-394-72811-4
Another guide to the wild foods of America.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[120] ? The Plantsman. Vol. 2. 1980 - 1981. Royal Horticultural Society 1980
Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants including Billardiera spp, Calochortus spp, Drimys spp.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture. 0
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[185] Mitchell. A. F. Conifers in the British Isles. HMSO 1975 ISBN 0-11-710012-9
A bit out of date (first published in 1972), but an excellent guide to how well the various species of conifers grow in Britain giving locations of trees.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[201] Allardice.P. A - Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers Ltd. 1993 ISBN 0-304-34324-2
A well produced and very readable book.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[226] Lauriault. J. Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ontario. 1989 ISBN 0889025649
Very good on identification for non-experts, the book also has a lot of information on plant uses.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Pinus strobus

carole Leigh Sat Mar 4 2006

where can you buy syrup of white pine please?

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