Description
whole white pine tips harvested in early spring and air dried in our drying barn.
Make a strong tea and add to your bath with epsom salts to stimulate lymph flow.
Constituents: Vit C (needles), Vitamin A and many different acids in needles, essential oils (including terpenes, monoterpenes, sesqueterpenes), resin, starch
Herbal Actions: Expectorant, circulatory stimulant, mild diuretic, pectoral, immune stimulant, grief support
Medicinal Uses: Specific for respiratory and bronchial complaints. A tea of the needles, or a decoction of the needles with thin twigs included (the strongest preparation), is helpful to promote expectoration and removal and thinning of mucous from the lungs. Suitable for both wet and dry coughs but when there’s dryness I like to combine it with moistening demulcent herbs (see cough recipe below for a balanced formula). Use for coughs, colds, bronchitis, laryngitis, croup. A pea-sized piece of the pitch can also be chewed to promote expectoration.
The Eclectics learned of the medicinal properties of this North American native plant from indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee Nation (true name of the Iroquois and is made-up of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas ), Algonquin, Chippewa, Ojibwe, and likely many more. Holds great cultural significance for the Haudenosaunee Nation, to whom it’s known as “The Tree of Peace.”
