Edible Trees: Foraging for Food from Forests - American Forests (2024)

By Jesse Vernon Trail

Most of us know of, and greatlyappreciate, the wild and cultivatedfruits, nuts and berries that comefrom trees. However, few are awareof the edible yields (and great value)that several of our trees have to offer.Aside from producing delicious snacks,such as apples, cherries, walnuts andchestnuts, some trees provide otheredible parts: bark, leaves, twigs, seeds,pollen, roots, new growth, flowers and,of course, sap used for syrup.

For example, did you know that the youngleaves and even the seeds of many of our mapletrees are edible? Maple trees provide more thanthe familiar delicious maple syrup! Also, did youknow that the inner bark and young twigs of manyof our birch trees are edible? Birch trees can alsobe tapped for a sweetish sap/syrup. Then, thereare the immensely valuable pines, with their edibleinner bark, seeds and so much more.

Deciduous Trees

BEECH, fa*gUS

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The American beech, F. grandifolia, is an exceptional,magnificent and majestic shade tree thatdefinitely deserves to be grown more often in thelandscape. A slow-growing native of eastern NorthAmerica, the tree can grow to about 100 feet tall,often with a nearly equal spread. It has grayish barkand dark green foliage that turns golden bronze inautumn. The small, edible nuts are very tasty butnot that well known. Young leaves can be cooked asa green in spring. The inner bark, after drying andpulverizing, can be made into bread flour, thoughthis is probably best considered as a survival food.

BIRCH, BETULA

The birch species are well known, especiallythe strikingly beautiful white-barked varieties.The inner bark of birches is edible, making it animportant survival food. Many have kept fromstarving by knowing this. Native peoples and pioneersdried and ground the inner bark into flourfor bread. You can also cut the bark into stripsand boil like noodles to add to soups and stews orsimply eat it raw. In spring you can drink the tree’ssap directly from the tree, or boil it down into aslightly sweet syrup.

LINDEN, TILIA

The linden (or basswood) is often a well-shapedtall tree, with grey fissured bark. The youngleaves in spring are pleasant to eat raw or lightlycooked. The flowers are often made into a soothing,tasty tea.

MAPLE, ACER

The sugar maple, A. saccharum, is a beautifullyformed tree. It provides us with some of the bestand intense autumn foliage color, ranging frombrilliant orange to yellow to bright reds.

Sugar maples have distinctive, slightlynotched, three-lobed leaves, whereas those ofthe black maple, A. nigrum, are more shallowlynotched. The bark of the black maple is almostblack in color. The five-lobed leaves of the silvermaple, A. saccharinum, have narrow and deepindentations between the lobes. The undersidesof its leaves are notably silvery-white in color.

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The sugar maple is famous for the deliciouslysweet syrup you can make from its sap. But,few are aware that many other species of thelarger maple trees can also be tapped for anedible sap. Among these include: the blackmaple, whose sap tastes almost identical tothat of the sugar maple; and the silver maple,also providing an equally sweet-flavored sap.The syrup you can make from other maplesvaries considerably in flavor and quality, but feelfree to experiment. Native peoples and pioneersdrank the fresh sap from maples in spring, as arefreshing drink.

The inner bark of maples can be eaten raw orcooked — another survival food source! Even theseeds and young leaves are edible. Native peopleshulled the larger seeds and then boiled them.

MULBERRY, MORUS

The mulberry, M. alba and M. rubra, are mediumsized,fruit-bearing trees, with a short trunkand a rounded crown. The twigs, when tenderin spring, are somewhat sweet, edible either rawor boiled.

WALNUTS, JUGLANS

All Juglans species can be tapped for sweet-tastingsyrup, particularly black walnut andbutternut.

OAKS, QUERCUS

The oaks are mentioned here, for it is notthat well known that the acorns are edible.All acorns are good to eat, though some areless sweet than others. Some, like red oak,Q. rubra, are bitter tasting, while others likewhite oak, Q. alba, sometimes have sweet nuts.The bur oak, Q. macrocarpa, often bears chestnut-like flavored acorns.

POPLAR, POPULUS

The Populus genus includes aspens and poplars.Their somewhat sweet, starchy inner bark isedible both raw and cooked. You can also cut thisinto strips and grind into flour as a carbohydratesource. Quaking aspen, P. tremuloides, catkinscan also be eaten.

SASSAFRAS, SASSAFRAS

Sassafras tea (mainly from the young roots) iswell known, and its pleasantly fragrant aromais unmistakeable. The young, green-barked,mucilaginous twigs of this small- to medium-sizedtree, when chewed, are delicious to many.The green buds and young leaves are also delicious.Try them in salads! Soups and stews canbe thickened and flavored with the dried leaves(but, remove the veins and hard portions first).

SLIPPERY ELM, ULMUS RUBRA

This medium-sized tree is well known for itsmany herbal medicine uses. The thick and fragrantinner bark is extremely sticky, but providesnourishment, either raw or boiled.

WILLOW, SALIX

The inner bark of the willows can be scraped offand eaten raw, cooked in strips like spaghetti ordried and ground into flour. Young willow leavesare often too bitter, but can be eaten in an emergency— it is a survival food!

Conifers (in particular,The Pine Family, Pinaceae)

The entire pine family comprises one of the mostvitally important groups of wild edibles in the world,particularly for wildlife. The inner bark and sapis very high in vitamins C and A, plus many othernutrients. And, when eaten raw or cooked, its barkhas saved many from starvation and scurvy. You cancut the inner bark into strips and cook like spaghetti,or dry and ground into flour for bread and thickeningsoups and stews. The sap in spring can be tappedand drunk as a tea.

Even pine needles, when young and starchy,are rich in nutrients, like vitamin C, and arereasonably tasty. These are not usually eaten, butrather chewed upon for about five minutes, swallowingonly the juices. Perhaps a better alternativeis to make a tea with the needles. Pine or firneedles make a fine tea in winter.

Then, there are the edible cones, seeds andpollen of the Pinus genus. The woody conesthat produce seeds within their frameworkare female. These are delicious when shelledand roasted. Nutritious pine nuts are often notconsidered for food because they are too tiny andhard to get at (a hammer or rock will be needed).However, there are a few pine species that providedelectable pine nuts (seeds) that can beas large as sunflower seeds or larger. Here isa small selection of these: the Korean Pine,P. koraiensis; Italian Stone Pine, P. pinea; andPinyon Pine, P. edulis.

The soft male cones and pollen are also edible,but the taste is very strong, so is better if usedin cooking. In spring many of these male conesproduce copious quantities of pollen, so muchso, that you can practically scoop it up from thegolden carpet it makes on the ground.

The pine family includes genera such as: thepines, Pinus; spruces, Picea; larches, Larix; firs,Abies; and the hemlocks, Tsuga (not to be confusedwith the totally unrelated poison hemlock).

Certain genera of another plant family, Cupressaceae,specifically two species of arborvitaes,Thuja, cedars, also have an edible and nutritiousinner bark. These are: western red cedar, T. plicata(in particular); and eastern white cedar, T. occidentalis.Native peoples would harvest and dry it, thengrind it into a powder for use when travelling oras an emergency. On the advice of native peoples,Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, used the easternwhite cedar to treat scurvy among his crew.

Sap, Syrups and Tapping

There are a relatively surprising number of treesthat can be tapped for their sap and syrup. However,be forewarned; many of these offer a bland, bitteror almost tasteless flavor and quality. For example,you will find that tapping a hickory tree will result inunsatisfactory tasting syrup. Whereas, tapping certainother nut trees, like butternut and black walnut,will provide you with quite a fine-tasting syrup.Also, the native peoples tapped the sycamore tree,Platanus acerifolia, but this syrup is consideredmuch too dark and strong flavored by most people.The maple by far yields syrups of the best quality andtaste, and the best of these is from the sugar maple, orblack maple, and followed closely by the silver maple.

Properly selecting and tapping trees for sap canbe a detailed process, so here we will address just thebasics. You can purchase the necessary spiles andpails for sap gathering, or for better enjoyment do iton your own.

First, in most instances, you will want to selecttrees that are at least 18 inches in diameter. A roughestimate of how much finished syrup you will get pertap is about one to two quarts, or about one gallon ofsyrup per year, per tree.

Cut a V-shaped gash into the tree (an age-oldmethod of our native peoples), at the base of whichyou can drill a hole about 2 inches deep and closewith a peg. Then, when you are ready, remove thepeg and insert your spile. A spile is the means toconvey the sap from the tree trunk to your bucket orpail. This is essentially a hollow tube with a spoutend. It can be made from a wide range of materialsfrom metal to bamboo. One of the best is made froma sturdy, hollowed out twig or branch of a staghornsumac, Rhus typhina. Or, you can use the lid froma tin can for a sort of spile. Just smooth the roughedges first. Make a single bend in the lid and insertit into your tree tap hole. Drive a small nail into thetree to suspend your bucket or pail from.

Then, it’s just a matter of boiling the sap withwater, and spooning off the characteristic scum asit rises. The best ratio is around 35 parts of water toone part sap. The water evaporates over time, leavinga clear amber syrup. Strain carefully.

For sugar, continue boiling until a test portionof the syrup forms a very soft ball in cold water. Removefrom the heat, agitate with an egg beater andpour into dry molds. Delectable!

Jesse is an author and instructor in environment,ecology, sustainability, horticulture and naturalhistory. Check out his first book, “Quiver Trees,Phantom Orchids and Rock Splitters:Remarkable Survival Strategies of Plants” atwww.ecwpress.com/products/quiver-trees.