- Pinus strobus L.
- Pine family
Parts Usually Used
Inner bark, young shoots, twigs, pitch, leaves
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
White pine is a large North American evergreen tree; reaches a height
of 150 feet or more, the tree is covered with deeply fissured, gray-brown
bark. Its branches are arranged in regular whorls. The soft bluish-green,
needle-like, linear leaves grow in clusters of five, the clusters
spirally arranged on the branches. The male flowers grow in axillary,
catkinlike cones, the female in slightly larger lateral or nearly
terminal cones. The slender, cylindrical seed cones are from 3-8 inches
long and are often curved. The winged seeds are brown, mottled with
Grows from Newfoundland to Georgia mountains and central Iowa, west
to northern Illinois.
Legends, Myths and Stories
The Native Americans used white pine for making a bread from the
Long been used for lumber and wood pulp, the timber has been used
for ship masts, houses, other buildings.
The inner bark off white pine is a remedy for coughs and congestion
due to colds and bronchitis,
laryngitis, as a tea or as an ingredient in cough syrup. Some Native
American tribes used the inner bark or the sap as a poultice or dressing
for wounds and sores.
Pitch poulticed to "draw out" boils,
draw embedded splinters, felons,
used for rheumatism, broken
bones, cuts, bruises, and
Twig tea used for kidney and lung ailments. Bark and/or leaf tea used
for sore throats, poulticed
for headaches. Combined with
uva ursi (bearberry), marshmallow, and
poplar bark, it is excellent for diabetes.
A hot resin can be spread on a hot cloth and applied as you would
a mustard plaster for treating pneumonia,
sciatic pains, and general
Formulas or Dosages
Infusion: steep 1 tsp. inner bark or young shoots in 1 cup
water. Take a mouthful at a time, as needed. Add a little honey for
sweetening if desired.
Tincture: a dose is from 2-10 drops in water.
Mixture: steep 1 tsp. white pine inner bark and 1 tbsp. each
of wild cherry bark, sassafras bark, and American spikenard root in
1 pint of boiling water for 30 minutes. Take 1 tsp. every hour.
A ready-made combination of pine with other herbs is available at
many herb shops, with the directions for use on the container.