Did you know that there are a number of species of trees, common in North America, that have nutritional and medicinal properties in addition to being good sources of wood? Being able to identify them can help you to take advantage of their benefits in any wilderness survival situation. Let’s take a look at a few examples of trees to be on the lookout for out in the field.
Maple
Maple trees provide us with much more than a delicious syrup that can be tapped on-demand. Their seeds are loaded with nutrients and oils, and their wood is excellent for fires or smoking food. Dried wood is also an excellent choice for making a friction-based fire-starter as well. The easiest way to process seeds for food is to remove them from their helicopter pods and soak them in water, just as you would with beans.
Ash
Ash is an elastic hardwood, and it is considered to be one of the best options for woodworking. Whether you want to make spears, utensils, bowls or furniture, ash is ideal for all kinds of bushcraft projects.
Sycamore
Sycamore trees contain sap that is not only excellent for syrup, but the liquid also makes for a great water substitute. The wood is also good for making strong and durable boards, and it is flexible enough to fabricate a rudimentary bow. It is also very resistant to cracking which makes it an ideal material to use for making things like bowls or fire drills.
Willow
Willow twigs are flexible and can be used for weaving things like baskets or containers. The wood is also excellent for making friction fire drills. However, it’s the medicinal properties of willow that make it such an important survival resource. Chewing on willow bark will activate the salicin, the main compound in aspirin, and provide you with a safe form of pain relief.
You can also take shavings from the bark and steep them in a tea for relief from diarrhea. Tea from a handful of willow leaves can act as an astringent which may help to promote the healing of small cuts and wounds. You can either apply the liquid topically or drink it, and drinking the tea can is known to help relieve inflammation as well.
Hickory
Did you know that pecans come from a few species of hickory trees? In fact, you can enjoy similar nutritional benefits from the seeds of most hickories even if they don’t have the same taste. Hickory nuts are also some of the nutritionally-dense out there, and a cup contains almost 200 calories. Best of all, you can eat the nuts straight from the pods without having to process them beforehand.
Hickory is also famous for being a slow-burning firewood that is easy to chop, and it is also one of the best woods to use for smoking. Hickory is also a nice, flexible hardwood that is easy to carve, which makes it an excellent choice for making bows or handles for knives or rudimentary tools.
Black Walnut
Walnuts come in a close second to hickory in terms of nutritional value, and they also provide us with a couple of important medicinal benefits as well. Dry out the green husks of the seed pods and soak about a teaspoon of the material in a cup of hot water to make a powerful anti-parasitic remedy. You can also make a tincture from the husks that can be just as effective as iodine as a topical antiseptic. Walnut husks can also be used to make dyes for fabric. Boiling green husks will produce a brown-yellow dye, and boiling black ones will produce a dark brown color.
Birch
Birch is one of the most popular trees for all kinds of woodworking projects, and the wood is also one of the best fire-starters out there. In fact, thin shavings of birch bark can ignite even when wet. You can also make a tea from birch that has strong analgesic properties, and you can also drink the watery sap or boil it down into a delicious syrup.
These are just a few of many common species of trees that can be helpful to us during survival situations. Take some time to learn how to identify trees, and what species are in specific areas, and you can take advantage of these benefits they provide as well.