Fascicles, Sessiles and a Medicinal Dose of Power

“What are you collecting?” the gardener had inquired.

“You are going to laugh at me, but I am collecting lob-lolly pine pollen, the same messy yellow powder that everyone here in North Carolina has recently been complaining about covering their windshields, porches, decks and shoes.”

“Cool,” he replied, without missing a beat. “Want some company to get more?”

What are the chances of finding another person in my cousin Jeff’s co-housing community, who appreciates foraging for free medicinals?

Until this trip, I had never even heard of a Loblolly Pine, the second-most common species of tree in the United States, after red maple. The lanky “telephone pole tree” can stretch over 100 feet when mature. As they grow taller, the trees lose their lower branches. Locals refer to them as lolly pop trees.

Jeff had complained one too many times about the yellow powder’s prevalence, so I sarcastically interrupted his diatribe with, “Bet it’s good for something. I’ll go look.”

It turns out that the pollen can be helpful medicinally in many ways:

The pollen is chemically almost exactly identical to the male hormone testosterone and can be purchased in big bags over the internet as a testosterone supplement. Supposedly, Native American warriors would carry a small bag of this pollen with them to eat before battles to "pump them up.”

Lob-lolly pollen contains 18 amino acids, numerous vitamins, including D which is rare for plants, is full of minerals, and has beneficial enzymes. Some uses in Chinese medicine include: relieving fatigue and rheumatic pain, strengthening the immune system and heart, as well as increasing mental agility.

My new friend, Bern, and I managed to collect a quart each of cones, which I spread out on a paper bag on the counter until they had dried, opened and released their pollen. I ended up with a meager quarter cup of relatively flavorless, but powerful powder- 12 teaspoons, which I readily shared with Jeff before we headed out on the wooded trails on our mountain bikes. Did we fly! Hah!

Bern was going to save his scanty stash until early spring, next year, when he planned to take it preventatively as an antihistamine.

After learning that the needles are rich in Vitamin C (five times the amount found in a lemon), I collected a handful, over which I poured boiling water for a lemony -piney flavored tea.

Imagine what a resource is going to waste throughout the southeast! I imagined giant shop vacs attached to humungous bags, hanging from helicopters throughout the forests, collecting this nature’s powdery wonder.

***Lob-lolly has two or three needles per fascicle, which is a slender bundle (as of pine needles or nerve fibers). The cone is directly attached to the branch, which is called a sessile (a plant or animal structure attached directly by its base without a stalk or peduncle).