07/19/2026
Recently read Eric Toensmeier’s great research on trees with edible leaves
(https://perennialagriculture.institute/2023/01/10/trees-with-edible-leaves-pais-latest-publication/)
Along with providing abundant fruit from the plethora of trees that birds love to spread around, the leaves of Mulberry (Morus sp.) are also edible. Called tut in the Middle East where they are consumed as a salad vegetable or used in wraps for things such as dolmas, they can be eaten raw or cooked or dried and used as a spice. Their abundance makes them a great tree forage for pets or livestock too, and their rapid growth means the wood can be coppiced for sustainable wood source. As with most of the trees mentioned here, you can also tap them for syrup.
Hickories, along with providing a variety of different edible nuts like pecans and shagbark, shell bark, and pignut hickory, and can be tapped for syrup like maple trees, some also have edible leaves when they’re young (although they are slightly bitter raw). Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) leaves aren’t edible because they contain juglone (the allelopathic chemical Black Walnut trees are known for) and rarely pecan (Carya illinoinensis) can cause an allergic reaction.
American Linden Trees (tilia Americana) also called Lime Trees, or American basswood contain many edible parts, including the leaves. They can be tapped for syrup, you can eat the flowers, and the seeds can be ground up and used as a chocolate substitute. The young leaves are rich in vitamin C, calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Zinc. The inner bark can be harvested from spring into early summer and cooked like a vegetable, but this shouldn’t be done unless a tree is being thinned or pruned or an emergency situation since this will severely weaken the tree.
Hawthorne Trees (Crataegus species) along with having sweet-tart berries also have edible leaves. They are safe to eat raw, but are tough and fibrous and require cooking to really be palatable. The flowers are also edible, which is often the case with species with edible fruit. Another little known edible part is the thorns, sometimes called thorn berries, which have been traditionally used as a digestive aide.
Along with having young edible, Birch (Betula sp.) surprise, suprise, can also be tapped for syrup. Twigs can also be chewed for a sweet minty flavor, or added to tea. The inner bark can also be made into a flower, used by cultures all over the world. Anishanabe call it Wiigwaas, the Athabaskan call it Kaa'gum, it’s called Maskepära in Estonia, Berkenbast by the Dutch and Masura in Russia.
The sassafras tree has the distinction in this list of heterophylly (having different leaf shapes). They can have trilobed, unlobed, and mitten-shaped leaves, all on the same tree. The tree also has a very characteristic smell and taste. Absolutely every part of the tree is edible. The root was traditionally used to make root beer, use the inner bark, eat leaves and twigs, and it even has a little known edible fruit. It is worth noting that the FDA has banned sassafras as a food additive due to links between safrole and liver cancer risk.
White pine (pines stribus) along with most pine species also have edible needles, most commonly used to make tea. They are extremely high in vitamin C, especially in the winter months when other sources are less abundant. The pollen can also be eaten of used like a flour, use the sap like a chewing gum, and some species produce pine nuts. You can also again tap them for syrup with certain species like sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) and the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) producing particularly good varieties.
On top of being the go to species for syrups, Maple trees (Acer sp.) also have edible leaves. The can be eaten raw when young, or you can go the Japanese route and make momiji no shiozuke もみじの塩漬け and clean and preserve the leaves in salt. Maple spinners can also can be harvested to eat the seed, that can be roasted and are quite delicious.
Aside from having the distinction of surviving the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki including “A-bomb ginkgo” that was only a mile away from the epicenter of Little Boy, the living fossil ginkgo (ginkgo biloba) also had edible leaves and nut. The fruit of ginkgo is toxic, and smells horrible, but the inner seed is edible after cooking. It can also be tapped for syrup, but I’ve never heard of anyone doing it and the sap can cause skin reactions so I’d skip trying this one.
Finally, on top of delicious beech nuts, beech leaves are edible, and so are the young shoots. You’ll be happy to know you can also tap it for syrup.
This is far from a comprehensive list. There are other edible tree leaves where I am, and even more around the world.
