: Use of the Bark for Food

Scotch pine bark

The distinctly orange-hued bark of the Scotch pine (Mary Petronio, 2014).

From approximately AD 1450-1850, the inner bark of the Scots pine was utilized by the Sami people in northern Sweden as food, as detailed in a case study (Zackrisson,  Östlund, Korhonen, & Bergman, 1999). Large pieces of the bark would be stripped from the trunk and stored for later, while inner bark was used to wrap around and protect bundles of sinews (helpful mainly due to its antibacterial qualities). The bark was stripped from the tree with a specialized instrument, leaving the cambium intact so that the tree could continue growth.There appeared to be a traditional preference for taking the first section of peeled bark from the north side of the tree. The inner bark could be either eaten fresh in strips, dried or pulverized into a flour. When in flour form, it could be mixed with reindeer milk, fat or blood. Bark could also be roasted in a covered pit underground. Peeling scars have been found on trees dating back to the 15th century, with evidence that the use of the bark for nourishment began declining around 1680 (Andersson, 2005). After 1800, the bark was used almost exclusively solely for wrapping sinews