![]() The Cherokee, Iroquois, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi used a red maple bark decoction as an eyewash, and the Cherokee also used it to treat cramps, dysentery, and measles(Moerman 1998). ![]() The Cherokee, Koasati, and Seminole used products made from the bark as a dermatological aid. The Iroquois created a substance that they used as a blood purifier. Medicinal: Native Americans used the bark of red maple for an array of medicinal purposes. Plus, they produced ink and a dark blue dye by adding copper to a substance extracted from red maple bark, which they used for coloring linens, hats, and shoes (Peattie 1948). The Potawatomi boiled the bark of red maple in water to deodorize animal traps, and the Seminole used red maple for arrowheads and ox yokes (Moerman 1998).Įuropean settlers also used the wood for furniture and cooking utensils. The Iroquois and the Seminole carved the wood into bowls and cooking utensils. The Cherokee, Malecite, and Micmac tribes made baskets from red maple fibers. Additionally, the bark was dried, crushed, and then sifted by the Iroquois, who used the resulting flour to produce breads and cakes (Moerman 1998).įunctional: In addition to being used for furniture, building material, and decorative carvings, native tribes adapted various functional uses for red maple. The Abnaki used this sugar to sweeten foods, and the Algonquin in Quebec used a slightly less condensed, more syrup-like connotation to sweeten sauces and relishes (Moerman 1998). Many tribes tapped the trees for sap, which they boiled down into sugar. Historical UsesĬulinary: Native American tribes had several known culinary uses for the red maple tree. ![]() Red maple is intolerant of fire, which likely explains its historic absence along much of the western edge of Indiana. It is found less frequently in uplands, but its beauty and tolerance of a range of conditions, including shade and poorly drained soils, have led to widespread ornamental planting throughout the state. Red maple is primarily a lowland species of rich-soiled bottomlands, flatwoods, riverbeds, swamps, and floodplains. As an ornamental tree, red maple is widely cultivated and planted outside of its native range, including throughout Europe, since the 1600s (Majestic Trees 2020). No historical herbarium records exist from Benton, Newton, Parke, or Vermillion counties, and the USDA historical range map backs up the belief that red maple would have been historically absent from those counties. Deam wrote that red maple is “found in all parts of Indiana” (Deam 1953), the western edge of Indiana represents the area where the eastern deciduous forest met the Great Plains. With the broadest range of any of the North American maples (Smith 1961), except for the Great Plains, red maple is native throughout the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. Deam reluctantly referred to one specimen in Dubois county as “the variety trilobum” (Deam 1953). trilobum) has distinctive three-lobed leaves and fruit that are intermediate between var.
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