Tree Cambiums, Energy Giving Carbs & Starches,

---

Cottonwood leaves have no lobes, but they have teeth and are triangular in shape; hence the species name deltoides. The leaf is somewhat shiny, which makes its shimmering in summer breezes all the more obvious. 

Eastern cottonwood and sycamore are the giants of creeks and floodplains. Cottonwood is easy to spot from a distance because of its large size and because its leaves quiver in the slightest wind, like it’s close relative quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). Cottonwood has little commercial value today, but it played an important role in American history

Slippery elm leaves are dark green and rough on the upper surface and paler on the lower surface. They are 4–8 inches long and have a long, narrow tip.  The leaves are doubly-serrated and have a sandpapery upper surface. The bark is reddish-brown to gray and has strong vertical ridges.  When sliced open, the bark has alternating layers of tan and dark brown. Slippery elm is also known as red elm or Indian elm. It can grow to a height of 60-80 feet. The inner bark of the slippery elm tree has been used medicinally for generations. Native Americans used it to treat digestive ailments, coughs, and sore throats.

Birch species are generally small- or medium-sized trees or large shrubs, mostly found in northern temperate climates . The simple leaves may be toothed or pointed with serrated edges, and the fruit is a small samara—a small seed with papery wings. Many types of birch grow in clumps of two to four closely spaced separate trunks.

All North American birches have double-toothed leaves and are yellow and showy in the fall. Male catkins appear in late summer near the tips of small twigs or long shoots. The female cone-like catkins follow in the spring and bare small winged samaras that drop from that mature structure.

Alder can grow to a height of 25m over around 50 years, and is short-lived, with a life expectancy of just 60 years. It grows in a variety of habitats and soil types but especially in areas with damp soil, including wet woodlands, marshes, and on the banks of rivers and streams.  trees are broadly conical in shape, and have dark and fissured bark. Twigs are light brown with orange spots, and young twigs are sticky. Leaves grow from purple or grey leaf buds and are fresh green and rounded. In spring, look out for pendulous male, yellow catkins, and green, oval female catkins. Over summer the male catkins drop off and the female catkins harden and become reddish brown, and look like small cones.

The cambium layer, or inner bark, of most pine trees is edible and can be eaten raw, boiled, or fried. However, not all pine species have edible cambium. For example, you should avoid Norfolk Island, Yew, and Ponderosa pine trees because their bark and needles can be toxic. The cambium layer is a good source of starch, sugar, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It has a slightly resinous sweet taste. Many Native American cultures used the inner bark of pines and other trees as a staple of their diet

The inner bark and cambium of quaking aspen is edible, but they are best in the spring.  The inner bark can be eaten raw or cooked. Like other Cambiums it can be dried, ground into a powder, and used as a flour. This flour can be mixed with other flours for making bread or used as a thickener for soups

 Aspens can be identified by their smooth, white bark marked by black scars where lower branches are naturally self-pruned. Quaking Aspen leaves are somewhat heart shaped, with finely saw-toothed margins and range in size from 1.25-3" (3-8 cm) long

Maple Cambium is edible and tastes slightly sweet from the sap. It.can be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted.  The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Algonquin peoples used the bark to make bread and as a soup thickener. The cambium layer is full of nourishment and is also fibrous enough to be used to make string and rope.  Native Americans used red maple bark as an analgesic,wash for inflamed eyes  and as a remedy for muscular aches. They also brewed tea from the inner bark to treat coughs and diarrhea. Early settlers made cinnamon-brown and black dyes from a bark extract

The bark is relatively nutritious, packing about 500-600 calories to the pound, but it may be bitter tasting depending on the tree’s growing conditions. The inner bark contains a surprising amount of digestible starches, some sugar, vitamins, minerals, and the bark also has tons of fiber, so as with all other cambiums,  brace yourself for a good internal scrubbing.!

You might assume the Hemlock tree is poisonous because of the name, but it’s actually an edible evergreen tree that’s not even related to poisonous hemlocks! Hemlock trees are a species of large evergreen coniferous trees native to North America. Hemlock trees are identified by their conical shape, flat, aromatic needle-like leaves, oval or cylindrical seed-bearing cones, and reddish-brown bark.  This stately tree can reach impressive heights of around 100 feet! When mature, the bark becomes deeply furrowed with flat plates. 

Hemlock needles and cones are both small; on eastern hemlock, the cone is rounded or egg-shaped and 1/2 to 1 inch long. The needles are 1/4 to 3/4 in length, flat, and rounded at the tip. Each needle is born on a tiny peg-like base and they appear to grow in two flat rows along the twig. The underside of the needles are whitish in color, with a green midvein that gives them a striped appearance.

Green and white ash trees are the two most common ash species and their range covers most of the Eastern United States and Canada. Other significant ash trees to cover significant ranges are black ash, Carolina ash, and blue ash.Identification of ash during the spring/early summer growing season is straight forward. Their leaves are opposite (rarely in whorls of three) and mostly pinnately compound but can be simple in a few species. The seeds, popularly known as keys or helicopter seeds, are a type of fruit known as a samara. Ash has shield-shaped leaf scars (at the point where the leaf breaks away from the twig). The tree has tall, pointed buds above the leaf scars. There are no stipules on ash trees so no stipulate scars. The tree in winter has pitchfork-like looking limb tips and there could be long and narrow clustered winged seed or samaras. Ash has continuous bundle scars inside leaf scar looks like "smiley face".