Spruce tips: young spruce and fir shoots – and the deadly yew
In spring spruces and firs put out soft, light-green tips that taste fresh and slightly lemony. You can nibble a few raw, steep them as tea or use them as seasoning. Telling them apart from yew is vital: yew also puts out light-green shoots, but every part except the red flesh is deadly poisonous. Only in small amounts, only from reliably identified trees, not during pregnancy.
- Identifying and gathering 15–30 minutes
Explained simply
In spring spruces and firs grow new twig tips. They are light green, very soft and smell fresh like the forest. They are called spruce tips. You can nibble a few of them or make them into tea. They taste a little like lemon.
But careful: there is a tree that looks very similar and is deadly poisonous – the yew. It also has light-green tips in spring. You can tell the difference by the needles: spruce has prickly needles all round the twig, fir has flat needles with two white stripes underneath. Yew has flat needles without white stripes.
So the rule is: only gather with an adult who knows the trees for certain, and only a few tips. If you are even a little unsure, leave the tree alone. The tips will not fill you up anyway – they are just a fresh seasoning.
How it works
Spruce tips are the year's new twigs. In winter they sit tightly packed in brown buds. In spring they push out, often still with a brown, papery cap on the tip. As long as they are young, the needles are soft and light green, and the whole shoot comes off easily.
The young shoots contain a lot of water, some vitamin C and essential oils that give the fresh, resinous, lemony taste. After a few weeks the shoots turn woody, the needles become hard and prickly, and the taste becomes bitter. The best time is therefore short and depends on altitude – earlier in the valley, later in the mountains.
The tips provide almost no energy. They are a seasoning and a fresh green like chives, not a meal. Anyone who is hungry in an emergency will not be filled by spruce tips. Their value lies in the taste, in a little variety and in the pleasure of using something from your surroundings.
What really matters
Everything depends on reliably telling spruce, fir and yew apart. Spruce has sharp, prickly needles that are four-sided in cross-section and stand all round the twig. Each needle sits on a small brown woody peg; if you pull it off, the twig stays rough like a rasp. The cones hang down.
Silver fir has flat, soft needles with a blunt or slightly notched tip and two clear white stripes on the underside. The needles are attached to the twig by a small round foot like a suction cup, and the cones stand upright on the branches. Yew also has flat, soft needles – but without white stripes underneath, with a fine point, and they run down the green twig without woody pegs. Instead of cones it bears red berries in late summer.
Check every tree before you pick, and check your gathering again afterwards on a cloth. Anything with flat needles without white stripes goes. If even one feature does not fit, leave the tree. The surest way to learn the trees is to compare them in the forest with a knowledgeable person – spruce, fir and yew side by side.
Safety: what to watch out for
Yew is one of the most poisonous plants in Central Europe. Needles, young shoots, bark and seeds contain substances that act on the heart; even small amounts can be fatal. Only the red flesh of the berry is not poisonous, but the seed inside is. Yews often grow as hedges in gardens, parks and cemeteries, but also wild in the forest. If poisoning is suspected call 112 at once, in Austria also 144, or a poison line.
Thuja (arborvitae), savin juniper, false cypresses and many other ornamental conifers are poisonous too. So you only gather in the forest, only from spruce and fir, and never from hedges or ornamental trees. Avoid trees along roads and on sprayed land because of pollutants.
In larger amounts the essential oils can irritate the stomach and kidneys. A handful of tips a day is enough. During pregnancy, breastfeeding and with kidney disease, do without entirely; small children only taste one or two tips. Anyone who gets stomach pain, nausea or palpitations after eating seeks medical help.
When it makes sense – and when it does not
Spruce tips are a nice addition in spring: a few tips nibbled raw, chopped as seasoning over fish or flatbread, or as tea with boiled water. They bring flavour to camp food and are good practice in recognising conifers reliably.
As food in an emergency they are no use – they provide hardly any energy. Anyone who is hungry should not put their strength into gathering tips but into shelter, water and being found. Outside the short season of new growth the shoots are hard and bitter too.
The forest always belongs to someone. In Germany the Federal Nature Conservation Act allows collecting small amounts of wild plants for your own use outside protected areas; in Austria the Forest Act and regional laws govern forest use. Always leave young saplings and their top shoots alone, because without the leading shoot they grow stunted.
Good to know
For tea, pour boiling hot, boiled water over a small handful of washed tips, cover the mug and let it steep for about ten minutes. The tea is pale yellow and tastes mildly resinous. Outside spring, green needles of spruce and pine are suitable – more in the entry on needle tea.
In the Alpine countries spruce tips are boiled down with a lot of sugar into a syrup. That is a kitchen preparation for home and not emergency food. The same applies there: only reliably identified spruce shoots and small portions.
A field guide with photos of all three trees side by side is a good aid. Even better is to show yourself a spruce, a fir and a yew in your own area once a year and feel the features with your fingers – prickly and rough, soft with stripes, soft without stripes.
Step by step
Recognise spruce
Spruce has sharp, prickly needles that are four-sided in cross-section and stand all round the twig. Each needle sits on a small brown woody peg; if you pull one off, the twig stays rough like a rasp. The cones hang downwards. The young shoots often still push a brown, papery bud cap ahead of them.
- 1
Recognise spruce
Spruce has sharp, prickly needles that are four-sided in cross-section and stand all round the twig. Each needle sits on a small brown woody peg; if you pull one off, the twig stays rough like a rasp. The cones hang downwards. The young shoots often still push a brown, papery bud cap ahead of them.
- 2
Recognise fir
Silver fir has flat, soft needles with a blunt or slightly notched tip and two clear white stripes on the underside. The needles are attached to the twig by a small round foot like a suction cup. Its cones stand upright on the branches.
- 3
Recognise yew – and leave it
Yew also has flat, soft needles, but with a short, fine point, glossy dark green above and paler yellow-green beneath – without white stripes. The needles run down the green twig without woody pegs. It bears no cones but, in late summer, red cups open at the top, and it often has reddish-brown, flaking bark. It grows as hedges in gardens, parks and cemeteries, but also in woods.
Never eat yew or use it for tea – deadly.
- 4
Check every twig
Check each tree before you pick: needles standing all round, prickly, on woody pegs – spruce. Flat needles with two white stripes beneath – fir. Flat needles without white stripes – yew, do not pick. If even one feature does not fit, leave the tree alone.
- 5
Gather gently
Only pick soft, light-green tips that come off easily, and only one or two per branch from the side twigs of larger trees. Leave the top leading shoot and young saplings alone. Gather with permission, only for your own use, away from roads and never in protected areas.
- 6
Check again in the container
Tip your gathering onto a cloth and check every tip again: anything with flat needles without white stripes goes. Remove brown bud caps and wash the tips with clean water.
- 7
Use sparingly
Nibble a few tips raw, add them chopped as seasoning to food, or pour boiling hot, boiled water over a small handful and let the tea steep covered for about 10 minutes. A handful of tips a day is enough. They will not fill you up.
Common mistakes
- Confusing yew with fir because both have flat needles
- Gathering from hedges in gardens, parks or cemeteries
- Breaking off the leading shoot of young trees
- Eating large amounts
- Using them during pregnancy
- Counting on the tips as food
Quick view
Materials
Field guide to wild plants (for your region)
With photos of spruce, fir and yew
A book does not replace practice with a knowledgeable person
Identification apps can be wrong – never rely on them alone
Airy collecting bag or basket
Collect each species separately so nothing unknown gets mixed in
No plastic bags for long periods – greens sweat and spoil
Metal pot (stainless steel, aluminium, titanium)
For tea
Hot – scalding risk.
Suitable for
- Spring (depending on altitude roughly April to June)
- Fresh variety and flavour in camp
- Practice in recognising conifers
Not suitable for
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding
- People with kidney disease
- Trees in gardens, parks, cemeteries and along roads
- Young trees in plantations – breaking off the leading shoot damages them
- As a staple food – the tips provide hardly any energy
Prerequisites
- Able to tell spruce, fir and yew apart reliably – ideally practised beforehand with a knowledgeable person
- The forest owner's permission; only small amounts for your own use
- Clean, boiled water for tea
Safety
- Only small amounts: a handful of tips a day. In larger amounts the essential oils can irritate the stomach and kidneys. Not during pregnancy or breastfeeding, not with kidney disease, and small children only one or two tips to taste.
- Thuja (arborvitae), savin juniper, false cypress and many ornamental conifers are poisonous too. Only gather from spruce and fir that you recognise 100 % – in the forest, not in gardens or cemeteries.
How it works
The young shoots are the year's new twigs. As long as they are soft and light green, they contain a lot of water, some vitamin C and aromatic essential oils. Once they turn woody and the needles harden, they taste resinous and bitter. The tips are a seasoning and a fresh green, not a source of calories.
Advantages
- Easy to find where spruces grow
- Fresh flavour and some vitamin C
- Little effort
Disadvantages
- Life-threatening confusion with yew is possible
- Only a few weeks a year
- Hardly any calories
- Not suitable for everyone
Deep knowledge
Background
Spruce tips have long been used in the Alpine countries as a home remedy, syrup and seasoning. Wild plant and bushcraft books describe the young shoots of spruce and fir as edible.
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment lists yew among the highly poisonous plants; its toxins act on the heart. In Germany the Federal Nature Conservation Act allows collecting small amounts of wild plants for personal use outside protected areas; in Austria the Forest Act and regional laws govern forest use. The trees themselves always belong to the forest owner.
Variants
- Spruce tip syrup
- Traditionally spruce tips are boiled down with a lot of sugar into syrup at home. That is a kitchen preparation, not emergency food; here too only reliably identified spruce shoots and small portions.
- Older needles as tea
- Outside spring, green needles of spruce and pine can be steeped as tea – more in the entry on needle tea. Same rule: never yew.
Common mistakes
- Confusing yew with fir because both have flat needles
- Gathering from hedges in gardens, parks or cemeteries
- Breaking off the leading shoot of young trees
- Eating large amounts
- Using them during pregnancy
- Counting on the tips as food
Limits and risks
- Applies to spruce and silver fir in Central Europe
- No medical effect claimed
- No substitute for food or clean drinking water
- No substitute for practising with a knowledgeable person
Material alternatives
Derived from material properties: a substitute must have all relevant properties. Observe the notes on the substitute.
- Airy collecting bag or basket
- Metal pot (stainless steel, aluminium, titanium) (Hot – scalding risk.), Single-wall stainless steel bottle (Heat only single-wall bottles without paint/plastic; remove the lid before heating.), Double-wall insulated bottle (Never heat directly.), PET bottle (clear, max. 2 litres) (Do not heat or place in a fire.), Food-grade water container (Only use containers that never held chemicals or fuel.), Airtight food-grade storage container (Fill only when clean and completely dry; never use containers that previously held chemicals.), Collapsible water container or bag (Protect from sharp objects.), Measuring jug, Food-grade water bag (Use only for drinking water, never for chemicals or fuel.), Fermentation jar or crock (Use only food-grade containers of glass, food-safe glazed stoneware or food-grade plastic – no metal containers for acidic food.), Resealable food bags (Use only bags intended for food; do not use with boiling water unless the manufacturer explicitly allows it.), Rigid collecting container (box, basket or mug) (One species per container – never mix in anything unknown)
- Metal pot (stainless steel, aluminium, titanium)
- Single-wall stainless steel bottle (Heat only single-wall bottles without paint/plastic; remove the lid before heating.)
Results come exclusively from structured entries. No improvised instructions are generated.
Sources
Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) (2017): Risiko Pflanze – Einschätzung und Hinweise
Yew as a highly poisonous plant (needles, seeds); thuja and other poisonous conifers
HarperCollins (Owen Johnson, David More) (2004): Collins Tree Guide
Features of spruce, fir and yew (needles, cones, bark)
Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart (Dietrich Frohne, Hans Jürgen Pfänder): Giftpflanzen – Ein Handbuch für Apotheker, Ärzte, Toxikologen und Biologen
Toxicity of yew (Taxus baccata), all parts except the aril
Bundesrepublik Deutschland (gesetze-im-internet.de) (2009): Gesetz über Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz – BNatSchG), insbesondere § 39 und § 30
Collecting small amounts of wild plants for personal use (§ 39)
Republik Österreich – Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) (1975): Forstgesetz 1975 (BGBl. Nr. 440/1975), § 33 Benützung des Waldes zu Erholungszwecken
Use of the forest for recreation in Austria
Gesundheitsportal Österreich (gesundheit.gv.at), Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz: Vergiftungsinformationszentrale (VIZ)
Poison information line in Austria (VIZ), available around the clock; in acute danger 112 or 144
Headquarters, Department of the Army (USA) (2002): FM 3-05.70 Survival
Only use plants after reliable identification; avoid poisonous plants