Download Native American Plant Use

Local Trees and Shrubs
of
Washington State
Native American Usage
Western White Pine
(The Tree Its Self)
•
•
•
•
Leaves- grow in clusters of five
needles, 2 to 4 inches long, bluegreen, 2 to 6 white bands of
stomata on the under surface
Bark- is smooth green-gray on
young stems, later breaking up into
dark gray rectangular plates
Its height is 120 to 160 feet
Where to find it- in the cascades
and Olympic mountains, it also
grows in northeastern Washington
and in some scattered locations in
western Washington
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www.orst.edu/instruct/for241/ con/spp/big/wwpnbg54.GIF
Western White Pine
(Its uses)
•
To relieve aches and pains,young
shoots boiled and a bath was taken
in the water.
www.wa.gov/dnr/htdocs/ rp/forhealth/ wpbrseedling.jpg
biology.uoregon.edu/reference/ treeid/whitepine.html
Vetch
•
This American Vetch
belongs to a group of
annual and perennial plants
that were used for forage,
food, and fodder.
•
The Vetch is a
leguminous plant with small
flowers that is often used
for silage or fodder, Genus;
Vincia.
Native American Uses
• The Native
Americans soaked
the roots and used
it as a hair wash.
Camas
• Most important of
Idaho’s indigenous food
plants and a contributing
factor of 1878.
• Native people
congregated at the camas
meadows in spring tell
late summer to trade,
socialize, and gather
sweet nutritious bulbs on
the Camas plant.
Native American Uses
• Techniques of gathering
and burning of camas
meadows were a form of
early plant husbandry.
• Camas was best prepared
by slow cooking for several
days in a earths oven.
• It was often dried for later
use or trade.
The Sword Fern
Sword Ferns are used for…
 Mattresses
 Lining baking pits
 The leaves look like small swords.
 Sword Fern roots can be baked
and eaten.
Native American’s Use For
Sword Fern
SPORES
Native Americans
would use the spore on
the back of a Sword
Fern’s leaf to ease cuts
and burns. Kind of
like ointment.
The Blue Elder Berry
 The Blue Elder Berries are 15 cm
long.
 The Elder Berry color varies from
blue , red, white,yellow,black and
purple.
 It grows in the wild, not captivity
 It grows in shrubs
 They grow white cream colored
flowers in spring
Native Uses
 Blue Elder Berries can
be used for sweet
jelly.
 The Berries are also
used for pies.
 There’re also useful
for elegant wine.
 It’s most useful use is
it’s natural dye.
Broad Leaved Cattail
• The Broad leaved Cattail
is brown and shaped like a
cigar,and made of tightly
stiff stalks.
• The male Broad leaved
Cattail is short, stubby,and
has a fluffy tail which will
disappear in later summer.
• There habitat is marshes
and sallow edges of
ponds.
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/types/images/cattail.jpg
Native American Uses
• The natives used this plant
to make food.Similar to
Asparagus eaten like corn
on the cob, and could be
boiled like potatoes.They
even make it into flour.
• If they needed insulations
for walls they could use
the Cattail.
http://www.ericschreiber.com/photography/cattail.jpg
 Bark: The color is
Reddish/Brown. This bark is
broken into large loose
scales and is corn-flaky and
crackles when pressed or
walked on.
 Fruit: A pendent cone, 2 ½
to 4 inches long.
 There are needles on this
tree that are sharp and
prickly.
Native American Uses
 The word Sitka Spruce is
called Piecea Sitchensis in
Native American language.
 The sprig of the tree is used
as a charm for whaling.
 The roots are used for
basketry, rain hats, and a
rope for whaling.
 The pitch is used for canoe
caulking.
The Pacific Yew
By: Tuesday
• The Pacific Yew is found in
the mountains of
Northeastern Washington,
also from the coast to the
Cascade Divide, Blue
Mountains, and sometimes
along streams of Eastern
Washington.
• The time of the growth is very
slow.
• One of the important
characteristics are the single
needles, which give the twig a
flattened look.
Native uses Of The Pacific Yew
• Used to make bows,
arrows, and whale
harpoons.
• Used for canoe paddles,
and war clubs.
• Made into wedges for
splitting logs, household
utensils, combs, drum
frames, digging sticks for
roots and clams.
• The Douglas fir is very
big.
• It has long flat needles.
• There are two kinds of
Douglas fir.
• The coastal and the
mountain.
By Sarina
• The Douglas fir is
used to make salmon
spears.
• It’s bark is boiled to
heal infections.
• Also the bark is boiled
to use as die so the
fish can’t see the net.
Vine Maple
• Leaves turn a bright
red in the fall
• They grow in clumps
• There twigs go like
vines
By Cortney
Native Uses
• Vine maple was used
for weaving baskets
• The vine maple was
also used to make
snowshoes
• It was also used to
make salmon tongs
Big Leaf Maple
• Bark was made into rope.
• Used leaves to lay fish on
while cleaning them.
• Used to build framework
for sweat lodges.
Big Leaf Maple
• The little buds
that fall off are a
type of seed.