Cold Cure

Menominee Indians made a tea of the hemlock's inner bark to treat colds. Today, hikers enjoy the dark evergreen for its beauty. Its short, flat needles have two white stripes underneath. Hemlock is an indicator species, a tree whose presence signifies Wisconsin's northern forest. It is favored by another indicator species, the black-throated green warbler, a tiny bird with a slow, wheezy song and a deeply cupped nest woven with spider webs and curly strips of white birch bark.

Gibraltar, Wisconsin · United States