Are all pine needles edible? in Edible/Useful Plants Forum

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Are all pine needles edible?

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montanadolphin	Are all pine needles edible?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 11 (09/09/08 5:15 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Remove this ad I mentioned this in a couple of other posts, but never posted the question directly. Are all pine needles edible? I mean, can I walk up to any pine tree...be it spruce, fir, or long leaf pine...pluck off a few needles and pop 'em in my mouth or make tea with them? My neighbor has a spruce tree in his yard and a few of its branches hang over into mine...would like to try tea with some of its needles if they are edible. There are also some long needled pines in a nearby park...I think they are Loblolly or Pitch because they have long 3-needle clusters. Here's some pics of the spruce. Thanks in advance !! ~~Becca~~
Montana Buckskin		#1	[-]
Posts: 1340 (09/09/08 5:30 PM) Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	first one should distinguish between edible, poisonous, and palatable.... as far as i know there are no poisonous conifers but there sure are unpalatable ones.... pretty much everything is edible but it doesn't mean it won't kill you! You learn something new every day if your not careful. my site Braintan Made Easy DVD Sneak Peek
Coyotlviejo		#2	[-]
Posts: 3754 (09/09/08 8:02 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	All pines, spruce, fir - yes. Same for juniper, and I believe cedar. Don't know about larch. NOT yew. Also try chewing the pitch from the edible species. Flavors vary by species and by location, so you can do a lot of fun experimenting. Good luck! Dan www.ReTerran.com
Montana Buckskin		#3	[-]
Posts: 1342 (09/09/08 9:21 PM) Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	larch is doable too...in fact the inner cambium is very chewy, kinda like gum...if you stretch your imagination a lot... didn't know about yew....thus haines message about taking all info here with a grain of salt!! do they have yew in the east? my first post was poorly worded....by saying pretty much everything is edible i meant everything.....i didn't mean everything on a conifer....but again, just because you can eat it doesn't make it good to eat or that it won't kill you.... my little search on yew showed that it was used as a poison on arrows!!! nice call Dan.... You learn something new every day if your not careful. my site Braintan Made Easy DVD Sneak Peek Last Edited By: Montana Buckskin 09/09/08 9:48 PM. Edited 2 times.
Lady Nauriel		#4	[-]
Posts: 74 (09/09/08 9:38 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yew is planted all over the country as a landscape plant, but its escaped in some places. The needles are flat, and instead of a cone it has cup-shaped reddish-orange berries. The berries are supposedly edible as long as you spit out the seeds, but that's according to one of my wild foods books, I haven't tasted them myself yet.
HunterFarmer		#5	[-]
Posts: 126 (09/10/08 3:26 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	That's a Norway spruce in your pic.
montanadolphin		#6	[-]
Posts: 12 (09/10/08 4:55 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	~HunterFarmer~ How can you tell it's a Norway spruce? Only spruce I can distinguish is the Blue spruce...and that's only cuz it's blue...lol!! ~Montana Buckskin~ I should've been more specific in my question. I did mean are there any that are poisonous, and which ones. I'll have to watch my wording in the future!! Also, what did you mean when you said "just because you can eat it doesn't make it good to eat or that it won't kill you...."? Are you saying that even if it is NOT poisonous, it could still kill you? I'm new to eating wild foods, so I apologize if I sound like an idiot for asking, but I want to learn, know, and understand all I can, and the only way is to ask, ask, ask...even if I do sound like a fool!! I googled yew, and I've never seen one before, so if they are here in Richmond, I've not come across any. I would stick to the conifers I know, anyway...spruce, fir, and long needled pines. Does anyone recommend one over another? As a general rule...is there one favored over another...like, preferring spruce over fir, fir over pines, etc.? I'd like to try my first cup of pine needle tea today, so should I try that spruce in my yard, or walk down the street a little bit and pluck some long needles off the long-needled pines? Any suggestions would be appreciated Thanks again, ya'll ~~Becca~~
Pamunkey		#7	[-]
Posts: 1379 (09/10/08 5:39 AM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	We've got loblolly and Virginia pine occuring naturally; the one you've described in most likely loblolly (it's the most common pine in this area). You sometimes see white pine planted as an ornamental as well as other conifers (yew is most often planted as a hedge in this area). I've read something about loblolly pine being toxic, specifically reports showing that ingesting the needles caused cows to miscarry. That being said, I've made tea from its needles and haven't suffered any harm from it. It's not a favorite, since it tastes a little like turpentine and there are plent of other, better tea plants available (sassafrass, sweet goldenrod, spicebush, etc.). Will
conall cernach		#8	[-]
Posts: 166 (09/10/08 7:00 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Becca: The way I know to distinguish Norway Spruce (Picea abies) from other spruces is its almost pendulus (weeping) nature; that is. It's a very tall tree, and grows quickly. Spruce have square shaped needles, while firs have flat needles (try rolling a needle between your fingers, the spruce will roll, the fir, not so much) As for taste, I prefer spruce. I don't like the pines. Hemlock (Tsuga) is alright. Yew is deadly. Never tried fir, but it smells like it would be nice. Juniper (eastern red cedar), I find to be insipid. Haven't tried Larch or Arborvitae (northern white cedar, Thuja occidentalis). I can also clear up the yew (Taxus) question: All yews are poisonous, to to greater or lesser degrees, but none-the-less are not something I would eat. The roots, bark, sap, wood, needles, and seeds are all toxic, though the aril (the red, fleshy cone) is edible, and quite good, so long as the seed is spat out. Some peoples did use very small amounts of yew (the growing tips of the needles traditionally, the bark commercially) as medicine for its anti-cancer properties, but if you don't know the dosing, like I don't, then I would stay away, as you could easily OD. In the east, there is the native Canadian yew (Taxus canadensis), as well as the many others used in landscaping.
Montana Buckskin		#9	[-]
Posts: 1346 (09/10/08 7:11 AM) Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Remove this ad i'm being overly technical montanadolphine....force of habit from being in the medical field a bit.....but yes things that aren't poisonous can still kill you if you react badly to their proteins as in the case with allergies....nor are all things that a person can stick in their mouth and chew palatable my experience has been with spruce and larch...spruce needle tea is supposed to be high in vit. c and the young buds in spring are said to be loaded with vitamins.... some basics when it comes to any wild plants are to steer clear of plants that are being exposed to toxins so i would be careful about ingesting anything from suburbia as far as plucking stuff off trees down the street! You learn something new every day if your not careful. my site Braintan Made Easy DVD Sneak Peek
Francis Eric		#10	[-]
Posts: 296 (09/10/08 10:43 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I like flat cedar or Arborvitae I eat it off the tree -- It freshens the breath (almost like mint or probaly more like a menthol taste) Word of cation though It has the same chemical thujone as Sage rosemary worm wood and to much can be bad. I just nibble, on it alittle, (I have ate little by little all day long too much And The feeling like drinking to much black tea ---not painful, but You'll be able to tell you might puke but I think one cup of tea wouldn't hurt he is a picture. (cal photo's might have other one's -- it is used alot as a ordimental tree in peoples yards.) http://www.cas.vanderbilt...oimages/species/thoc2.htm Blue spruce neddle tea is one of my Favorites. Last Edited By: Francis Eric 09/10/08 10:56 AM. Edited 1 times.
jpjpelowski	cedars	#11	[-]
Posts: 11 (09/15/08 7:23 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	theres a cedar i pass almost daily at least i think its a cedar. it bark looks like it and the trunk grows upward in time but its all twisty. it has short needles and little blue berrys on it. i think those berries are edible but i kinda second guess my self thinking it might be the sruce or something else. can someone help me please
Quillsnkiko		#12	[-]
Posts: 1495 (09/15/08 8:38 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	cedar or juniper... have short very prickery needles and bluish grey berries. Lots of them. a lot of time they will be all twisted..depends on where they grow.I certainly would not call the berries very edible unless I was starving..but the berries are medicinal ..and are good for the urinary tract. They make Gin from Juniper berries...I would love to see how they collect the berries for the Gin. there is a plant in my old home town that used to and I think still does make Fleishmans gin..ADM..a corn processing plant as well. a lot of places in Iowa , minnesota and Wisconsin ..cedar or junipers grow along roads a lot.Birds eat the seeds and plant them. the bark is usually kind of shredded..hanging in shreds...on the trunk especailly. the woods center is red and smell of cedar..on both trees. the red part is great for fence posts that will last a long long time. I used to have some yews in the foundation planting of the house I used to live in.I had a herd of Goats then ..when ever the goats would get out... not too frequently ..but occasionally.... I was always afraid they would eat some of the yews...which it said in my Goat book were poisonous to them. They usually went for the garden first though....or the fruit trees. I did not want to test it with the yews however. " You can't stop the waves .... but, you can learn to surf."
jpjpelowski		#13	[-]
Posts: 12 (09/19/08 6:21 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	ok thank you. yea i thought they were edible but there arent there for fun and games of eating them. more for survival. the berries are still green but cant wait till they rippen and then i can grab some on the way to my car after school.
Quillsnkiko		#14	[-]
Posts: 1508 (09/19/08 7:02 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	jpj ......cool you got wheels ..huh???? :-) Quills " You can't stop the waves .... but, you can learn to surf."
irock		#15	[-]
Posts: 38 (09/27/08 11:06 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yew is poisonous! All pines are edible and I believe most spruces are too. Think the larch wasn't palatable. But definetly the yew is a no go ~ I've worked in the landscape industry for a long time and I've seen two Mexican workers eat berries/ leaves before and started convulsing violently about an hour after ingesting! They were in the hospital for several days before being released.
NeferSedjet	Pine Needles FTW	#16	[-]
Posts: 1 (03/19/11 7:12 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I know at the very least that long pine needles are very edible. I actually like how they taste and when I can go in the woods I eat them. I live in Wisconsin, so it's not like we're running out anytime soon. e__e Unless you have allergies to pine, you shouldn't have any trouble with them. They may be hard on your digestive system though, so if you have a weak stomach they may give you a stomach ache. Don't mistake this for something bad, it's just means you gotta get used to them (If you plan on eating more.) I've never tried bark, but that's because if you take the bark off, the tree dies. T__T I like the trees. The things I find are good about frequently eating pine needles are: Chewy :D High Vitamin C Helps your breath It's harder on your digestive tract and stomach, so when I eat alot it keeps me "satisfied" longer, even though there aren't many calories Eating alot of wild foods in general with the hiking/walking I do in the summer dramatically helps me lose all the weight I gain in the winter. This might not work for everyone though, so be sure to make sure you don't have allergies to whatever you might eat, and whether you're fit enough for doing it. And also, be sure to chew them well! It can make your stomach hurt if they're poorly chewed! Happy pine-eating! :D
Sean etc		#17	[-]
Posts: 360 (03/20/11 10:40 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Remove this ad i remember watching man vs wild once and bear chewed on them for hydration. I've also seen deer on a farm once eat the needles off a tree once.

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Are all pine needles edible?

Are all pine needles edible?