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If you are in a survival situation in the woods and REALLY hungry, and you are unsure about which plants are edible, can you eat pine needles?

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There are so many edible plants that you can surely find something good to eat in the woods. – Jay Bazuzi Feb 2 '12 at 18:25
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@JayBazuzi Problem is, there are also so many poisonous plants... – berry120 Feb 2 '12 at 23:41
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My point is that wherever you are going, you could learn about a few easy, tasty, nutritious plants beforehand. – Jay Bazuzi Feb 3 '12 at 18:28

2 Answers

up vote 11 down vote accepted

Pine needles have virtually no caloric value.
I would not recommend pine needles as an energy source, although they have plenty of vitamin C and make delicious tea. This is good in winter to avoid getting scurvy in a long-term survival situation.

As already mentioned, Yew needles are toxic to the human body. There are several genera of yew. Generally they grow at higher elevations and in man-made parks.

If anything looks like these yew needles, leave them be and don't eat them:

Yew needles - do not eat.

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Assuming they are similar to rosemary, yeah... very very few calories: calorielab.com/search/?search_input=rosemary – Russell Steen♦ Feb 3 '12 at 1:49
up vote 10 down vote

All pines, spruces and firs have edible needles.

All yews are poisonous, and can look like some of the above, so be careful you have identified the tree correctly!

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