From http://stripe.colorado.edu/~mitton/ponderosa%20pine.htm:Pine needles have been used to produce abortions in many societies, for a long time. Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder, physicians writing almost 2,000 years ago, both reported that
consumption of pine needles caused abortion. American Indians, including the Arapaho, independently acquired and used the same knowledge. During harsh circumstances, a pregnancy had a low probability of producing a healthy child and it endangered the life of the mother; a tea of ponderosa needles was used to produce an abortion.
From the site http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Environment/CulRes/conifers.htm: Ponderosa pine needles and branches may cause abortions and stillbirths in pregnant cows browsing them, and a tea of needles is reputed to cause miscarriages in pregnant women (Turner et al., 1980).
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine : “A tea made by steeping young, green pine needles in boiling water (known as “strunt” in Sweden) is high in vitamins A and C.â€?
Seems like the perfect famine tea, causes abortion and prevents scurvy.
