DISCOVERY OF SUGAR ON DOUGLAS FIR 



BY FRANCIS DICKIE 



LONG before the first white man came to North 

 America with his luxuries of sugar and tea and 

 other food delicacies which today the Indians love, 

 and long for when without, the Indians of at least one 

 district on this great continent had a white sugar of a 

 very rare and high quali- 

 ty, a sugar derived from 

 the strangest, and an almost 

 unbelievable source from 

 the foliage of the Douglas 

 fir tree, growing in certain 

 districts in the Province of 

 British Columbia, Canada. 

 Yet, remarkable as this 

 botanical phenomenon is, 

 the existence of sugar in 

 such an unusual place as 

 the foliage of a coniferous 

 tree seems to have entirely 

 escaped the attention of all 

 the white traders, explor- 

 ers, surveyors, missionaries 

 and hunters who passed 

 through the regions where 

 it is found. At least 

 no mention of it has ever 

 come to light; nothing 

 seems to have been written 

 of it by those early pioneer- 

 ing whites who traveled 

 through the region where 

 the trees produce this 

 sugar ; and, undoubtedly, 

 had these men known of it, 

 they would most certainly 

 have made some mention, 

 because of the very un- 

 usualness of the occurence. 

 So, in spite of the fact 

 that this sugar has been 

 known to and used by the 

 Indians for a great many 

 years, it is only now that 

 the following interesting 

 scientific facts of this 

 phenomenon in the plant 



world are made available through the investigations and 

 experiment of Professor John Davidson, F. L. S., 

 F. B. S. E., Botanist in charge at the University of 

 British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, who has recently 

 made a careful study of the sugar deposits on the fir, 

 and the conditions under which it is formed, by visiting 



A RARE PHENOMENON SUGAR ON FIR 



The sugar appears in white masses of different sizes, ranging from a 

 quarter of an inch to two inches in diameter. The smaller masses form 

 like white drops at the tips of single leaves, while masses of greater size 

 scatter over the leaves and branchlets. 



some of the principal regions where grow these sugar 

 bearing trees. Assisted by James Teit, of Spence's 

 Bridge, British Columbia, who had spent the major 

 portion of his years living in the interior of the Province, 

 and who had an intimate knowledge of the country and 



the Indians, Professor 

 Davidson gathered the data 

 as to the districts where the 

 sugar chiefly is found, the 

 probable causes of it, and 

 the other interesting matter 

 which is the subject of this 

 article, wherein for the first 

 time the story of the dis- 

 covery is made known to 

 the general reading public. 

 The sugar appears in 

 white masses of different 

 sizes, ranging from a 

 quarter of an inch to two 

 inches in diameter. The 

 smaller masses form like 

 white drops at the tips of 

 single leaves, and also at 

 times several of the leaf 

 tips are imbedded in a 

 larger drop. Masses of 

 greater size scatter over the 

 leaves and branchlets. 

 Placed in the mouth the 

 sugar is exceedingly sweet, 

 giving a flavor comparable 

 to the highest class of the 

 manufactured article. For 

 a moment it passes into a 

 pasty consistency in the 

 mouth. But quickly be- 

 comes entirely soluble un- 

 der the action of the 

 saliva. It is quite hard and 

 dry, but with no tendency 

 to stickiness, after the 

 manner of coarse flour. 

 The accompanying photo 

 taken by Professor David- 

 son, is of a good average 

 specimen of the phenomenon as it occurs on the Douglas 

 fir in British Columbia. A very light rain is, however, 

 sufficient to dissolve the sugar off the fir; but very often 

 it recrystalizes on the ground. At other times it remains 

 in a semi-fluid condition, and its food value is evidenced 

 by the fact that flies and various other insects are attract- 







