E NVIRONMENTAL I NTERPRETIVE C ENTER
Medicinal Tree Tour
A self-guided tour of trees
explaining traditional uses and
medicinal properties
Take this with you as you walk the trails. Use the trail map
University of MichiganDearborn
4901 Evergreen Road
Dearborn, MI 48128
Phone: 313-593-5338
Fax: 313-583-6444
Email: [email protected]
on the back to find the numbered posts along the Tree Trail portion
of the White Oak Trail along the west side of the lake.
The paths
are hard-packed and level, making for an easy 1/4 mile walk to and
from the Tree Trail.
The Environmental Study Area at the University
of Michigan-Dearborn has a variety of forested habitats, each with its own unique diversity of tree species.
The Area contains over 40 species of trees that were
regularly used by Native Peoples and European settlers.
This is a self-guided tour that corresponds to marked
trees in the Area which were valued for less common
uses. The knowledge of how forests were used in the
past brings new insight to the uniqueness of each tree
and leads to a greater appreciation for the natural
world.
1. Ostrya virginiana Eastern Hop Hornbeam
“The little-big tree”
Looking at this tree with its narrow, bent trunk, it is hard to
imagine its strength. Despite its size, however, the Eastern HopHorn Beam produces the strongest wood in the Area and is commonly called “Ironwood.” With bark that looks as though it was
scratched by a cat, Eastern Hop-Horn Beam grows no more than 916 meters high, and is a shade-loving, under-story tree. The
branches are extremely thin and the leaves oval and saw-toothed.
The fruit clusters resemble hops, an ingredient in beer, hence the
name Eastern Hop Hornbeam.
The European settlers of the eastern deciduous forests used
this wood for handles of levers, mallets, and axes. The Ojibway
Indians placed the heartwood in a hot liquid mixture with other
plants and drank it to treat lung hemorrhages and also made a cough
syrup from the wood. A herbal steam to alleviate rheumatism was
made by boiling the heartwood
2. Quercus rubra Red Oak
“The perfect tree”
Because it is hardy, shade-providing, and attractive, Red
Oak is the “perfect tree” for planting in city parks and lawns. The
bark has wide, relatively smooth ridges and looks “ironed out.”
This species grows quickly into a large towering tree which may
live for 200 to 300 years. Few insects can kill it, but the non-native
Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) can put great stress on it.
In winter, many of the leaves remain on the tree, which is
typical for oaks. In summer, listen for cicadas, insects that lay their
eggs in the small branches of this tree. The hatched nymphs will
feed on roots of the surrounding trees.
The Ojibway conducted a special ceremony where the
inner bark of the tree was turned into powder and combined with
other species in precise amounts to be used as a heart medicine.
They also boiled the inner bark to treat diarrhea, and the roots were
put on coals and the smoke inhaled to revive a patient from surgery.
The Potawatomi dried the acorns, ground them into flour, for use in
a thin, watery porridge or gruel.
3. Carya ovata Shagbark Hickory
“Something for everyone”
This tree is unmistakable with its “shaggy” bark that
peels from the tree in long strips, Shagbark Hickories are found
in many old forests with ashes, oaks, and cherries. This species is
found commonly in drier parts of river floodplains such as this
location. Its roots produce juglone, as do walnut trees, a toxic
chemical that prevents other hickories from growing in the root
system. You are looking at a young tree which has the potential
to live 250 more years if it can fight the many caterpillars and
other insect larvae that feed on its leaves. At twenty years old,
these trees produce flowers, and at forty they produce a good nut
crop every third year.
The Iroquois made an oil from the nut, mixed it with
bear grease to make a bug repellent and used the sap as a sweetener. The Ojibway put small shoots on hot stones and inhaled the
steam to treat headaches and used the wood for its strong, elastic
qualities in bows. The Potawatomi boiled the bark and applied
the infusion with a warm cloth for arthritis relief.
Soups were made from the nuts by Native People, and in
the pioneer days “nut cracks” were a popular snack. It is the
most efficient wood in North America to burn and produces a
quality charcoal. Aside from its many human uses, some species
of birds and squirrels also feed on the nuts from this tree.
4. Tilia americana Basswood
“Bast wood”
The term “bast” refers to the soft tissue or fibers of the
inner bark, which in Basswood is the longest and strongest of our
North American flora. In June or July, you can catch the sweet
smell of the yellowish-white flowers that allow honey bees to
produce a high-quality, strong-flavored, whitish honey.
Native People boiled the bast and rubbed it on a stick to
separate the fibers and then spun them to make thread or tough
cord. It was also kept under water until the soft tissues rotted
away, leaving smooth fibers good for sewing. The branches were
used to make hollow spiles, by the Ojibway, for drawing out maple sap. Iroquois masks were carved from the sapwood of a living tree and then cut off from the trunk and hollowed out from
behind. The native tribes of Quebec placed the leaves in hot water and used the liquid as an eye-wash. The Cherokee treated
dysentery by soaking the bark in hot water to extract the curative
elements. They also boiled the bark and added the liquid to cornmeal to put on a warm cloth to soothe skin boils.
On the Detroit River, the island Bois Blanc (white
wood) was named after this tree by the French explorers who
often found it growing among White Ash and Sugar Maple trees.
5. Betula papyrifera White Birch
“More than a tree”
Stay on the trail and look closely towards the lake.
There you will see a living White Birch and remnants of others
fallen on the ground. Compared to the Red Oak and the Shagbark Hickory, White Birch is short-lived at 60-80 years but grows
rapidly. White Birch thrive in wet areas including rushing
streams, swamps, and bogs, but can adapt to drier habitats. Birch
Trees need open, sunny ground for the seeds to germinate. The
openings left by fires offer this opportunity for reproduction and
are often seen growing in rotting stumps.
The Ojibway believed that the black scars on the bark in
the form of wings were put there by the teacher-deity, Winabojo,
to count the days he had to hide in a birch hollow from a
“thunderbird.” The White Birch represented a way of life for
those who traveled in the wilderness. The exploration of the
North Woods was possible only through the light weight and durability of birch bark canoes. To construct a canoe the bark was
peeled off the tree in a large sheet, stretched around a frame of
White Cedar, and then sewn with roots from a spruce or tamarack
and sealed with spruce or fir pitch. The waterproof capabilities
made the bark good for covering wigwams of Native Americans
and bunk houses of early lumbermen.
6. Acer saccharum Sugar Maple
“Way of commerce”
You are looking at one of the most beautiful and valued
hardwoods that is unique to northeastern North America. This
young Sugar Maple is a living history of many lifestyles that
were, and still are, centered around this tree. Maple syrup is produced from Sugar Maple trees, but this one is much too young to
be tapped. Its gray bark with narrow, cream-colored fissures,
opposite branches, and round-topped crown with low branches
are a reminder of hundreds of years of maple syrup production.
The Michigan Ojibway made syrup from the sap and used it as a
commodity for trade. Maple sugar made a great profit for tribes
who traded it to those who lived without the tree. The Ojibway
drank sap from the tree and mixed it with Box Elder (Acer negundo) or birch sap to sweeten meat. They also produced taffy
by cooling the sap in the snow. In maple syrup production, 35 to
45 gallons of sap can yield one gallon of syrup or roughly 4½
pounds of sugar. The Sugar Maple is valued not only for its sugary, sweet sap, but also for its autumnal beauty when it becomes
the brightest yellow of all trees.
tree because of the graceful curving tips of its branches. However, its use in residential areas has declined because of its brittleness and shallow roots, which often clog drains and sewers.
Many look to the blooming of the Silver Maple as the first indicator of spring. In summer, look for the bi-colored leaves that
are light green above and silver below, giving the tree its name.
Silver Maples that grow in shady environments conserve energy by growing branches mainly near the top, which allows the
tree to produce more leaves where sunlight is available.
The sap produces a high-grade maple syrup, but the
flow is too slow to compete commercially with Sugar Maple.
The barks of Silver Maple, Eastern Hemlock, and Swamp
White Oak were boiled together by the Ojibwa to make a wash
to remove rust from steel and iron and to prevent further rusting. They also used the root to make a bowl used in a dice
bowl game.
8. Fagus grandifolia
American Beech
“A sign of productivity”
This tree stands out among all others with its smooth,
gray bark and many small, stubby “feet” at the base of the
trunk. During winter, the tree often holds persistant dead,white
leaves, and it has long, pointed buds. American Beeches usually are an indicator of good soil - rich limestone and upperlevel soil moisture - and are associated with woodlands that
have a diversity of wildflowers. In summer, the leaves are bluish-green above and yellowish-green below, turning yellow in
fall which casts golden light on the forest floor.
The mast (nuts) is an important food for wildlife and
was vital to the now extinct Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). Deer Mice are believed to store more beechnuts in
the winter than any other animal; the Potawatomi relied upon
these hidden accumulations for food. The shells from the
beechnuts on the snow would signal Native Peoples to the hidden stash of beechnuts underground or inside a nearby log.
The Environmental Study
Area is open to the public, sunrise
to sunset. Ask about other public
education programs offered
7. Acer saccharinum
Silver Maple
“A floodplain ornament”
The trunk of this fast-growing tree frequently separates
near the base, as in the one before you. It is often found on the
river banks and floodplains of southern Michigan, mainly south
of Saginaw Bay. The Silver Maple is regarded as an ornamental
through the Environmental Interpretive Center.
Researched by: Gregory J. Norwood 2003
Trail Map