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NAME: Hemlock

SPECIES / FAMILY:  Tsuga Canadensis / Pinaceae

OTHER COMMON NAME(S): Eastern Hemlock, Eastern Hemlock-Spruce, or Canadian Hemlock

CONDITIONS: sun-shade
 

PARTS:	EDIBLE	TASTE	RAW/COOK	SEASON
All
Shoots			RAW/STEEP/COOK	Spring
Leaves/Needles	young		RAW/STEEP/COOK	Spring
Stalk/Stem
Buds
Flowers
Fruits
Pods
Seeds
Nuts
Roots
Bark	inner		RAW/DRY/COOK	Spring

 

PORTION: small

 

COMMENT: Edible - Needles. Inner bark. Shoots. Harvest needles anytime but preferably young ones in spring. For tea, boil needles in a covered pot and steep for 10 minutes. Tea is high in vitamin C. Inner bark is best in winter and early spring. To avoid damaging tree, use inner bark only in an emergency. It may be eaten raw or boiled, or dried and ground to mix with flour.(3) Inner bark - raw or cooked. Usually harvested in the spring, it can be dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickening in soups etc or mixed with cereals when making bread. The leaves and twigs yield 'spruce oil', used commercially to flavour chewing gum, soft drinks, ice cream etc. A herbal tea is made from the young shoot tips. These tips are also an ingredient of 'spruce beer'.(1)

 

CAUTION: No parts of Tsuga canadensis are poisonous. Poison Hemlock is a plant, not a tree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium_maculatum

 

NUTRITION/MEDICINAL:  https://www.webmd.com / https://draxe.com/

 

LOOK-A-LIKES:  Larch - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larix_laricina

 

POISONOUS LOOK-A-LIKES:  Yew bush/tree, all parts toxic except flesh of fruit, seed highly toxic - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_baccata

 

OTHER USES: Basketry;  Dye;  Hedge;  Hedge;  Resin;  Rust;  Tannin;  Wood. The inner bark has been used in making baskets. A red to brown dye is obtained from the bark. A red dye is obtained from the inner bark according to another report. A little rock dust has been added to act as a mordant when boiling the bark. The boiled bark has been used to make a wash to clean rust off iron and steel, and to prevent further rusting. Tolerant of light trimming, plants can be grown as a hedge.(1)

 

SOURCE LINKS (may include nutritional and medicinal info, plus other uses):

1. https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Tsuga+canadensis
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuga_canadensis
3. http://www.survivallandusa.com/Tsuga-Canadensis-Eastern-Hemlock-Edible.html
4. https://www.milkandhoneyherbs.com/blog/2017/1/24/eastern-hemlock-medicine
5. http://wildfoodsandmedicines.com/fir-hemlock-and-spruce-tips
6. https://howtocookaweed.com/tag/hemlock
7. https://theblueridgehighlander.com/hemlock-gift-giver-of-the-standing-people.php