Edible Plant Species

Tsuga canadensis Carr. Coniferae (Pinaceae). HEMLOCK.
North America.
The Indians of Maine prepare a tea from the leaves of hemlock and this tea is relished as a drink. The spray is also used in New England and elsewhere to a limited extent in the domestic manufacture of spruce beer. According to McKenzie, the aborigines of the West employ the inner bark as a food; it is taken off early in the spring and made into cakes, which are eaten with salmon oil and are considered dainties. Langsdorff speaks of the Thiinkets at Sitka eating cakes made of bark of spruce fir, mixed with roots, berries and train oil.