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Imagine a world covered in snow and ice or soaked in perpetual rain with almost everything around you exhibiting signs of death or dying. Feel the penetrating cold of December soaking into you bones. What would it be like to find something that was still vital and alive in this landscape? How would you respond to something that you knew could help you to survive the winter harshness that surrounds you?
In the dark, cold and wet, our ancestors used a variety of methods to survive the annual physical and psychological challenges that winter provided. Across the globe, a reverence was had for beings in our immediate environment that weathered these changes the best.
One of the most obvious was the presence of tall cone-bearing trees with green needles known scientifically as conifers and more commonly known as evergreens. These trees seemed to be one of the few things that truly showed signs of life even in the heart of winter. No wonder people in Europe used to decorate conifers with lights near midwinter and use their greenery to enliven the inside of their houses.What gifts do different types of evergreen trees have and how can we get to know them in the way our ancestors did?
In the Cascadian bioregion, there are many conifers and they all hold special gifts for human being trying to survive the winter. Some of these types of evergreen trees include Western Red Cedar, Blue Spruce, Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, Noble Fir, Mountain Hemlock, and Western Hemlock. It’s no wonder that Washington is known as the Evergreen state.
Western Hemlock or Tsuga Heterophylla is a coniferous tree of the Pacific Northwest bioregion characterized by small cones, flat and short needles with a light-green underside, and a drooping liter at the top of the tree. Not to be confused with the herbaceous plants known as Water Hemlock which is part of the Apiaceae family and was the poison used to kill Socrates, Western Hemlock is a valuable tree with many survival and medicinal uses.
For survival purposes, Western Hemlock has an amazing characteristic that is helpful in getting fire in almost any kind of conditions. The way in which the tree grows causes upper branches to wick water away from lower branches. These upper branches also block out light to the lower branches causing them to die. This results in a large number of dead, dry branches hanging close to the ground near the trunk of most hemlocks. These tiny branches make amazing kindling and often you can gather them dry even after torrential rainstorms!
Most types of evergreen trees produce pitch or resin that is flammable and medicinal and Western Hemlock is no exception. The pitch can be found on old wounds of the tree and on places where branches have broken off. This sticky and aromatic substance can be used to help start fires and also as an emergency antiseptic for cuts and abrasions in the wild. After thoroughly cleaning a wound, placing pitch on the wound will seal the cut, help it heal, and keep out further debris, dirt, or germs.
Other parts of the tree are also very useful as well. The needles of Western Hemlock can be eaten as a survival food. They are quite tasty, with a lemon-citrus flavor. The needles suppress the appetite (useful when food is a challenge) and they are very rich in vitamin C. To make Western Hemlock needle tea, simply take a handful or two and add them to hot (but not quite boiling water) and then reduce the heat and simmer between 10-20 minutes depending on your tastes. Try not to overcook the tea as vitamin C is damaged by heat. You can drink multiple cups of the tea as a warm, winter tea to drive out the cold and potentially prevent seasonal colds as well.
While all of the above information truly highlights some of the value of the Western Hemlock and other types of evergreen trees, there are other additional survival uses for the trees as well (for example, the inner bark of the tree can be harvested and eaten), perhaps the most direct experience of the power and majesty of this tree can be found by spending time near one. The next time it really rains or snows around you, go out in the inclement weather and find a Western Hemlock (or another type of evergreen tree) and spend some time beneath its water-wicking branches and feel the life of the tree in the midst of winter darkness.
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