Pine

Pinus sylvestris

Pinaceae

A bright, resinous needle tea from a tree you can name — never from a hedge you cannot.

Named Pinus only. Yew, oleander, and unknown evergreens are not this tea.

Parts used: Fresh needles of named Pinus
Traditional notes: A winter trail tea · Traditional cold cup · Resinous steam
Grow · USDA 6b: Tree, USDA 2–7 for Scots pine Stratified seed, or a nursery tree. Not a windowsill crop. In work: Nov · Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar
Harvest: Young needles from a tree you planted or a named stand you have permission to pick.

Learn yew first: flat needles in two ranks, red arils, no cones.
A small cup from a named Pinus. Not a boiled tar. Not a hedge guess.

Safety

Pregnancy in large needle amounts Yew or any unnamed evergreen Swallowing pine oil

Companions

Plant with Blueberry, Yarrow.

Lookalikes

English yew — A winter evergreen tea from the wrong needle is taxine, not vitamin C. English yew is a churchyard tree, not a white pine.

Lore

Scurvy-era sailors boiled spruce and pine when citrus ran out. The Cree and many northern peoples already knew the needle cup. Linnaeus named P. sylvestris from the Swedish woods he walked. The English ‘deal’ is the timber; the tea is the leftover brightness of the same tree.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.