Cvs 120th and hawthorne

Had to stop my self from getting into halo, had to walk away. Love the figures and the little needler! We all know once you start there's no stopping, and I can't start a new collection before I Catch 'em All

Just realized I didn’t post this here when I joined the group. Not sure how many people will be interested in this, but recently I read Eric Toensmeier’s great research on trees with edible leaves (https://perennialagriculture.institute/2023/01/10/trees-with-edible-leaves-pais-latest-publication/) but since it’s focused on trees for agricultural crops it doesn’t address trees with edible leaves already in landscape in Ohio, other than Mulberry and nonnative Linden species. Since I was already making foraging guides, and edible tree leaves are completely unheard of in most Americans diets, I made this.
Along with providing abundant fruit from the plethora of trees that birds love to spread around, the leaves of Mulberry (Morus sp.) are also edible. Called tut in the Middle East where they are consumed as a salad vegetable or used in wraps for things such as dolmas, they can be eaten raw or cooked or dried and used as a spice. Their abundance makes them a great tree “hay” for pets or livestock too, and their rapid growth means the wood can be coppiced for sustainable wood source. As with most of the trees mentioned here, you can also tap them for syrup.
Hickories, along with providing a variety of different edible nuts like pecans and shagbark, shell bark, and pignut hickory, and can be tapped for syrup like maple trees, some also have edible leaves when they’re young (although they are slightly bitter raw). Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) leaves aren’t edible because they contain juglone (the allelopathic chemical Black Walnut trees are known for) and rarely pecan (Carya illinoinensis) can cause an allergic reaction.
American Linden Trees (tilia Americana) also called Lime Trees, or American basswood contain many edible parts, including the leaves. They can be tapped for syrup, you can eat the flowers, and the seeds can be ground up and used as a chocolate substitute. The young leaves are rich in vitamin C, calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Zinc. The inner bark can be harvested from spring into early summer and cooked like a vegetable, but this shouldn’t be done unless a tree is being thinned or pruned or an emergency situation since this will severely weaken the tree.
Hawthorne Trees (Crataegus species) along with having sweet-tart berries also have edible leaves. They are safe to eat raw, but are tough and fibrous and require cooking to really be palatable. The flowers are also edible, which is often the case with species with edible fruit. Another little known edible part is the thorns, sometimes called thorn berries, which have been traditionally used as a digestive aide.
Along with having young edible, Birch (Betula sp.) surprise, suprise, can also be tapped for syrup. Twigs can also be chewed for a sweet minty flavor, or added to tea. The inner bark can also be made into a flower, used by cultures all over the world. Anishanabe call it Wiigwaas, the Athabaskan call it Kaa'gum, it’s called Maskepära in Estonia, Berkenbast by the Dutch and Masura in Russia.
The sassafras tree has the distinction in this list of heterophylly (having different leaf shapes). They can have trilobed, unlobed, and mitten-shaped leaves, all on the same tree. The tree also has a very characteristic smell and taste. Absolutely every part of the tree is edible. The root was traditionally used to make root beer, use the inner bark, eat leaves and twigs, and it even has a little known edible fruit. It is worth noting that the FDA has banned sassafras as a food additive due to links between safrole and liver cancer risk but in fairness the amounts fed to rats in the studies cited are far and above beyond anything a human would regularly consume even if all they drank was root beer. The real reason it was banned is that safrole is a precursor to synthesizing MDMA.
White pine (pines stribus) along with most pine species also have edible needles, most commonly used to make tea. They are extremely high in vitamin C, especially in the winter months when other sources are less abundant. The pollen can also be eaten of used like a flour, use the sap like a chewing gum, and some species produce pine nuts. You can also again tap them for syrup with certain species like sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) producing particularly good syrup. While many other conifer trees are also edible, not all are. All parts of Yew, except the flesh of berries, are toxic. Proper research is necessary before consuming other conifer trees.
On top of being the go to species for syrups, Maple trees(Acer sp) also have edible leaves. The can be eaten raw when young, or you can go the Japanese route and make momiji no shiozuke もみじの塩漬け and clean and preserve leaves in salt. Maple spinners can also can be harvested to eat the seed, that can be roasted and are quite delicious.
Aside from having the distinction of surviving the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki including “A-bomb ginkgo” that was only a mile away from the epicenter of Little Boy, the living fossil ginkgo (ginkgo biloba) also has edible leaves and nut. The fruit of ginkgo is toxic, and smells horrible, but the inner seed is edible after cooking. When eaten in large quantities or over a long period, it may cause poisoning by ginkgotoxin. The study of this toxin is fairly new, but ginkgo has been consumed for a long time in Asian cuisines. Eat at your own caution, but I would suggest eating seeds in moderation and only using the leaves sparingly or in teas. It can also be tapped for syrup, but I’ve never heard of anyone doing it and the sap can cause skin reactions so I’d skip trying this one.
Finally, on top of delicious beech nuts, beech leaves are edible, and so are the young shoots. You’ll be happy to know you can also tap it for syrup.
This is far from a comprehensive list. There are other edible tree leaves where I am, and even more around the world. Poster illustrated by me, available as prints on my Etsy joeydrawspictures.