White Pine has been called the Monarch of the Canadian Forest. Similarly it was the most important conifer of the Northeaster and Great Lakes forests. Sadly, few of the virgin Pines remain standing. they reached heights sometimes over 220 feet tall and 4 feet in diameter in the best soils, and 120 feet tall as an average. Nowadays, while many of the remaining virgins are threatened by slaughter, we are more familiar with second and third growth, reaching only 75 to 100 foot heights.

The lumber from White Pines has such superior qualities (light and strong, little resin, durable, easily worked) that along with the Beaver, it became the first North American resource to be strip mined by the Europeans. In colonial days the tall, straight trunks were prized for ships' masts, while the boards have always been treasure for construction and for furniture.

White Pine is a beautiful tree. Slender pale green needles, 2 to 4 inches long growing in clusters of 5, grown on branches appearing in whorls for every year of growth. As it matures the lower branches usually die and fall off, leaving a tall, straight, branchless trunk crowned by relatively few horizontal, large, plume-like branches.

Native Peoples have long used the inner bark and the needles for medicine, tea and food. European settlers quickly learned about and made use of those properties. Official pharmacopoeia soon listed them (?).

Pine needles make a mild and pleasant tea high in Vitamins A, C (about 5 times as much as found in lemons), and K (necessary for clotting blood, 20,000 DAM units per 100 grams). This makes it of special value during long Northeastern winters when little fresh food may be available and colds and bronchial problems abound. I enjoy filling a cup with the long needles, pouring boiling water over them, and drinking it just as soon as it is cool enough. Boiled maple sap poured over the needles makes and excellent flavouring(?).

Pine has an edible inner bark that is best gathered in May or June when it is sweeter, juicier, and easier to peel from the wood. Rich in Vitamin C, it also contains sugar and starch. Some prefer to chew it fresh, New Englanders used to candy strips of it, and others dry it to later become a very nutritious flour.