Spruce Gum

I hadn’t seen gum on a spruce tree for a long time until I saw this one while walking in the forest. As a child I used to pull some off and chew it.

My father explained it was safe to chew and had medicinal purposes. He was working as a forest ranger at the time and I would go with him whenever I was allowed. He would explain the different trees to me and if we saw a spruce with the gum running he would peel some off with a small jackknife for me.

The gum is flowing down this spruce tree I saw in the forest behind the house.





The next three paragraphs contain information about Spruce Gum from Wikipedia. Check Here for reference.

”Spruce gum is a chewing material made from the resin of spruce trees. In North America, spruce resin was chewed by Native Americans, and was later introduced to the early American pioneers and was sold commercially by the 19th century, by John B. Curtis amongst others. It has also been used as an adhesive. Indigenous women in North America used spruce gum to caulk seams of birch-bark canoes.[1]

Spruce gum has been used medicinally, primarily to heal deep cuts and sores in the Dene* culture. In the 1870s, Sisters of Providence located in Montreal, Canada, developed a spruce gum syrup for treating coughs and bronchitis.[2]

In the 20th century, commercial spruce tree processing turned to paper manufacturing to meet demand from the newspaper industry, thereby reducing the availability of spruce for other purposes, including Spruce Gum. Today, it is available in small batches made at home rather than commercially. It is often flavored with mint or fruit. It is also found in nature and is far less expensive than purchasing a small batch.””

*Dene refers to a group of First Nations Peoples who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. Dene is an Athabaskan name for people.


Trees hold many medicinal benefits and I have to wonder if the cure or vaccine for the COVID-19 lies in the secret healing power found in the forest.

Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada

Photos are mine unless otherwise sourced.