Spruce
Parts Usually Used
Young shoots and leaves
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Norway spruce is an evergreen tree; the stem, covered with scaly, red-brown bark, grows to 130 feet. The winter buds are reddish or light brown and produce young shoots at the tips of the branches in May. The dark green, quadrangular needles grow spiral around the branchlets. The catkin-like flowers bloom in May, the male yellow or red, and the female bright purple. The light brown cones are cylindrical-oblong in shape and 4-7 inches long.
Other variety: Black spruce (P. marina); Red spruce (P. rubes)
Where Found
Found in central and northern Europe; many varieties are cultivated.
Medicinal Properties
Calmative, diaphoretic, expectorant
Legends, Myths and Stories
Before the days of sweet flavored chewing gum, country boys gathered their gum from the spruce trees. City kids could buy this old-fashioned gum in drugstores, at candy counters, and general stores at a penny a lump. Spruce gum is tangy, purple hued and long lasting. When the tree is tapped, the pitch makes an excellent turpentine with powerful healing properties. The leaves and branches are used in making spruce beer and in nonalcoholic beer.
The gum is used in incense, perfume, medicinal salves, adhesives, etc.
Uses
Historically, herbalists administered warm infusions of the young shoots to encourage perspiration and to address fevers, coughs, catarrh, and influenza. The young shoots were also employed in vapor baths for bronchial complaints, while both the shoots and needles were added to warm baths for their reputed calming qualities. The Burgundy pitch derived from the tree historically served as a base for medicinal plasters.
Folk traditions also utilized the plant in preparations intended for scurvy, leukorrhea, and general systemic cleansing, as well as applying it externally to wounds, ulcers, and sores.
Bibliography
, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023