Our Atlantic Woods: a PHOTO GUIDE to NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS ©Fundy Model Forest 2010 Graphic Design: Jdm Design, Moncton, NB ISBN: 978-0-9731556-4-8 R.F
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OurOur AtlanticAtlantic Woods:Woods: H II T S M F .. R .. F S R C T S O D U T P R O R E S T A P H O T O G U I D E T O N O N - T I M B E R F Our Atlantic Woods: ©Fundy Model Forest 2010 A PHOTO GUIDE TO NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS Graphic design: jdm Design, Moncton, NB R.F. Smith ISBN: 978-0-9731556-4-8 Disclaimerr Living to be an Old AND Bold wild harvester of edible wild plants and mushrooms This guide is intended to help you identify some of the opportunities whereby your woodlot can provide a variety of goods and products, including foods and beverages. Many of the NTFPs listed in this guide have potential as foods or beverages. However, just as not all plants are edible, not all plant parts are equally edible and how you handle, store and prepare what you collect is CRITICAL. This guide is not a cookbook nor will it provide you enough information by itself to allow you to safely collect all of the species shown. You will need additional guides, references and even more importantly, training and experience. Please refer to the references in this guide and elsewhere such as the materials contained in the Around Your Woodlot Course (NTFP Module) available through INFOR Inc. in New Brunswick. IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE, CONSULT SPECIALISTS FOR HELP. Funding for this photo guide was provided in part by Natural Resources Canada through the Canadian Forest Service’s Forest Communities and First Nations Forestry Programs. Acknowledgements This project was funded through the Fundy Model Forest. My appreciation also to Maritime College of Forest Technology Thanks to Barb Scott and Nairn Hay for their patience and support. instructor Julie Singleton and the first year students in the class of 2009 I also want to extend a special thanks to Chris Dickie and Janette Desharnais who gave their valuable time to field test an early version of the tool. Their for their encouragement, technical and financial support through INFOR insightful comments and suggestions were very helpful in the early stages Inc., and their contribution of photographs. of this project. Julie also provided valuable edits to the final document. I would like to extend my appreciation to Marie-Claude Gauthier, General Finally, I want to thank Ian Smith, Mactaquac Provincial Park, and Manager, Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest, for her help in contacting the owners Peggy MacDougall, Thulium Farms, for providing access to their forest of most of the photographs used in the section on mushrooms. These management plans and allowing me to explore their properties. Their photos originally appeared in Champignons comestibles du Lac-Saint-Jean, a cooperation was invaluable in developing this guide. publication of the Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest. The generosity of the Tree, shrub and herbaceous species in New Brunswick number in the following photographers in allowing us to reprint these photos is thousands. It was not possible to include every NTFP in this guide. gratefully acknowledged: The examples in the photo guide are among the species most commonly Aldei Darveau found in the Acadian Forest Region. Marie-France Gévry While it is hoped that this tool may prove useful for a variety of forest types Guillaume Roy in New Brunswick, it has been field tested within the Acadian Forest Region. Dany Simard It has been designed to help woodlot owners identify opportunities to Luc Simard manage for classes or groups of NTFPs for their own use or to develop as I would also like to thank Ed Fletcher, Strategic Sourcing Inc., and a small business. Dave Fuller, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, for ginseng and 1 fiddlehead photographs respectively. Respectfully, Ron Smith, August 2010 N T F P E Introduction P H O T O G U I D Introduction The forests of New Brunswick contain a wealth of plant and animal species. The species shown in this photo guide are not intended to represent a For woodlot owners, the values and reasons for owning woodland are as comprehensive listing of the flora of New Brunswick. While it is hoped that diverse as the plants and animals living in them. These woodlots represent this tool proves useful for a variety of forest types in New Brunswick, it has far more than a repository of wood fibre. The suite of values and products been field tested primarily within the Acadian Forest Region. If you are aside from the traditional sawlogs and pulp are usually lumped into a group unfamiliar with NTFPs, you are encouraged to contact one of the called non-timber forest products (NTFPs). This photo guide is intended to Atlantic Model Forests (Model Forest of Newfoundland and Labrador, help you identify some of the plants growing in your woodlot and the Nova Forest Alliance, PEI Model Forest Network Partnership or Fundy Model NTFPs that can be obtained from them. Forest), your provincial Department of Natural Resources, or the Canadian Forest Service. In New Brunswick, landowners are encouraged to take the NTFP Module within INFOR’s “Around Your Woodlot” course. The course provides a detailed overview of the range of NTFP opportunities and helps landowners make informed decisions about activities involving NTFPs on their woodlots. More information on this course is found on the INFOR website: www.infor.ca. 2 Introduction Using the Guide The guide is divided into four main sections: 1) Ground flora (herbaceous plants, and ferns, mosses and lichens), 2) Small trees and shrubs, 3) Trees (hardwoods and softwoods), and 4) Mushrooms. Within each section, species are sorted in alphabetical order by their Latin name. For each species in the guide, there is a photo of the plant, the type of forest (habitat diagrams) where it is usually found, and information on its potential use as a NTFP. There are no habitat diagrams for trees as this information should be self-evident. Photos The photos in this guide are intended to help you identify some of the species found in your woodlot. In many cases a photograph alone may not be sufficient to positively identify a given plant, and a plant identification book may be necessary. Highly technical plant identification books such asThe Flora of New Brunswick by H. R. Hinds are not easily used without some formal training, but other references provided at the end of this section and some of the web sites cited in the guide contain photographs and keys that may be easier to use. When in doubt, contact a local botanist, forester or forest technologist to help you to confirm the identity of an unknown plant. 3 N T F P P H O T O Introduction G U I D E Introduction Soft- Mixed Hard- Habitat Diagrams Figure 1. wood wood wood On the right is an example Light Requirements Canopy Light Requirements of the habitat diagrams for NTFPs found in this photo The 'Light Requirements' diagram provides a quick visual guide. Squares coloured in as to the range of light conditions from full shade to full green indicate that the sun that a species is typically found growing under. Some species may be found Immature species grow well under a wide range of light conditions, in this forest type. (< 5 m) while others flourish under more specific light conditions The ‘Light Requirements’ such as partial shade or full sunlight. Bunchberry (Cornus in the upper left of the Semi- mature canadensis), for example, grows under shade in mature diagram provides the likely (5 - 10 m) range of light conditions stands but also in clearcuts under fairly high light levels. from full shade to full sun. Choke cherry (Prunus virginiana), on the other hand, only Mature (> 10 m) grows in full sunlight conditions. Of course, there are always exceptions to these general guidelines. 4 Maturity Class Introduction NFTP Opportunity Class Figure 2. An example of a Maturity Class NTFP Opportunity The left side of the habitat diagram shows three possible stages of maturity of a forest in Class table as Essential Oils Nutraceuticals Syrup/Sap/Gums which a given species could be found. For simplicity, tree height in metres was used to create found in the Foods/Beverages Landscaping/Nurseries Crafts/Wreaths/Greenery the maturity classes. guide. Medicinals/Pharmaceuticals Canopy “Hardwood (hwd)” is forest made up of 75% or more hardwood trees; “softwood (swd)” is forest made up of at least 75% softwood trees; and “mixed wood (mixed)” is everything in between. Once again, this is a general guide to the forest type where a given NTFP species is most likely found. NTFP Opportunity Classes For each species in the guide, one or more potential NTFP ideas are provided in a NTFP Opportunity Class table. An opportunity class represents the potential end-use or market for the NTFP(s) that can be obtained. 5 D E U I O G H O T Introduction N T F P P P H O Introduction T O G U P I D T F E N Opportunity Classes The information contained here defining the NTFP classes has been adapted, Medicinals/Pharmaceuticals: For the purposes of this guide, medicinals with permission, from the INFOR Around Your Woodlot Non-Timber Forest and pharmaceuticals refer to any plant or plant part that is harvested with Products Module. the specific intent to be used in a medical application. A simplified way to view pharmaceuticals is to look at them as the active ingredient(s) in Nutraceuticals: From a strictly scientific perspective, nutraceuticals are prescribed drugs (medicines). So, for pharmaceuticals the plant or plant part chemicals that are found as natural components of foods.