Cigwatik

White Pine

Pinus strobus

Parts used medicinally

Needles and young shoots, resin, sap/pitch, inner bark.

Medical Uses

High in Vitamin C, good wintertime tonic; expectorant, respiratory system; good for circulatory and immune systems.

A tea/infusion (1 teaspoon needles/twigs for a cup boiling water) of the needles, include small twigs to strength tea helps with too much mucus in the lungs, good for both wet and dry coughs, for colds, bronchitis.

Resin/pitch can be used as poultice or warmed for a hot compress.

Harvest

All year.

Caution

Avoid large doses during pregnancy. Can cause a reaction in sensitive skin.

Climate Change Vulnerability

High.

Factors involved

White pine populations are already severely diminished. Although warming climate might cause an initial growth in its northernmost range, climate stressors are expected to cause white pine to become out of sync with changing weather and have difficulty adapting. Slow northward migration, existing regional adaptations to habitat, increased stressors (especially in southern part of range). Increased winter precipitation and high winds can cause damage to crown.