Favourite Tree?

[TheViking]

What's your favourite tree?? Mention one, and only one. (well try to, I know it's hard).
Mine has to be birch, (even thought I don't get acces to those very often). Simply because it's soft and therefore good for carving. It also make beautiful wood objects and the bark can be used as tinder and a tar oil. It's also good for knife handles and kuksa's.

-?? ack:

 

[Adi007]

Birch too - excellent source of bark as a material to make things from, tinder and sap!

 

[grumit]

i would say that mine would be the pine as they are such good fun to work in and the wood make's good logs the resin is good for making a candle if you get loads of it and can be used for glue never tried it though i most have a go even the shavings from the chainsaw burn well :wave:

 

[gb]

mine would have to be scots pine, just because i love the caledonian forests in scotland, stunning.

 

[hootchi]

Mine is beech. The size, beechnuts, leaves and unusual grain. Thats my favourite not my most useful.

 

[RovingArcher]

The Redwood. No other living being on this continent, except for maybe the Sequoia and the grizzly, can inspire such awe and humility in me.

 

[tomtom]

anything broard leaf for me! :biggthump

 

[spiritofold]

Hazel, excellent for carving,pot holders,fire making and its been used as such for thousands of years.

Andy

 

[Justin Time]

For the moment I would say Ash because it was the first that I felt I could ID from it's smallest sapling to full grown, at any time of year and without any great concentration...s'funny but years as a birdwatcher mean I had probably got to the stage where I could ID a couple of hundred birds by some combination of a glimpse and a bit of call... Tress on the other hand stay exactly where they are but are so much harder to ID!

 

[Kath]

Oak's my favorite, but we don't have many of them round here. :-(

 

[Rob]

Yew for me. You may not want to risk eating any of it for obvious reasons. The fact that something survived that could poison your stock just goes to show how much we have to owe to it.

 

[shinobi]

The same as Rob, I'm afraid. Yew is my tree.

This tree has been present for so long in our culture and has pervaded so many areas that it cannot be ignored. I could list it's uses, but I'd run out of memory before I had even covered half of it's uses :shock:

you just have to stand in a yew grove and you would realise how usefull it is !!


Cheers,

Martin

 

[arctic hobo]

Norwegian spruce, although not for any practical reasons (except christmas trees!). Just memories... (damn that sounds soppy!)
But how many trees look like this half the year?
http://www.chiba3.com/photo/nishiazuma08-big.jpg - too big to post here

 

[Paganwolf]

Mine's the Oak there are many of them around my neck of the woods the area i live in is called Thurrock whish is a name play of Thors Oak as legend tells that Thor took the oak for his mighty hammer from the Essex woodlands (Does that make thor an Essex boy :shock: ), Its lovely to carve,the wood is simply the best for building IMO, acorns are lovely for pancakes, and its a Mighty fine looking tree :biggthump

 

[match]

I was going to say birch for all the reasons that everyone else has already said, but I think instead I'll say Elder.

I just went through the list of uses to which I've put this tree, and its huge! Its wood is very light - and the stems are straight and hollow, and filled with pith. This pith makes great tinder, the stems can make good bow drill spindles, and when hollowed out, the stems can be used for making pipes, blowpipes, straws etc. The pith can also sometimes be extratced as a solid piece, which makes a very good natural fishing float.

The leaves contain a strong-smelling chemical that repels most insects when rubbed onto skin. They are also good (in small doses) as they act as a diuretic and help relieve constipation. They also make a very nice green-brown dye.

The bark is a strong purgative - so this might be of use, although I've never tried it! It does however also make a good brown dye, and a decoction of the bark and leaves is very very astringent, and closes up cuts and wounds quickly.

The flowers are very tasty! They can be used in drinks, desserts etc, as well as in perfumes and scents, but they also have an anti-inflammatory effect and are good for sore eyes, rashes, blisters and burns/scalds when used as an infusion/ointment.

The berries (when cooked) are also very tasty - very good in jams, pies etc, but also when boiled up with cloves they make one of the best cough syrups I know. they are also very rich in vitamin C - second only to rosehips in wild plants.

No wonder elder was often referred to in ancient herbal texts s the mother-tree, or 'nature's pharmacy'!

(A small bit of advice/superstition though - never take living wood from the elder tree without asking its permission - preferably never at all - only take fallen dead branches/winter prunings etc. there are many superstitions in Northern Europe that because of the tree's 'magical' properties, it is host to the fairy people/dead souls/evil spirits, and cutting the wood will release these and bring misfortune upon the cutter. Just a note of warning :shock: :rolmao: )

 

[Stuart]

does it have to be in this country?? if it does its the birch for me

if not the coconut tree ): what a fantastic tree!!

it provides amongst other things:

food
water
sugar
oil
fuel
shelter
cordage

 

[Ed]

I must 100% agree with stuart on the coconut palm. Having spent months on end with these trees in the tropics they become like a friend. They are so useful in so many ways its unbelievable.


Ed

 

[C_Claycomb]

I don't know if it is a tree....but the ultimate useful plant HAS to be Wompom!!

 

[match]

Yes - sounds like just the kind of plant a bushcrafter would want to know about:

The Wompom

:rolmao:

 

[Dave Farrant]

More info on the Wompom please C_Claycomb?