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HARDWOOD FOREST The Mystery of Annedda The Americas have given the world a large number of plants such as corn, potato and tomato, but also coca and cinchona, used for their therapeutic properties. If there is one plant that would have deserved this kind of attention but did not receive it, it would be the annedda, which saved Jacques Cartier and his crew on their second voyage to Canada, in 1535. During the winter, several members of Cartier's crew die of scurvy, caused by vitamin C deficiency. At Cartier's request, the Iroquoians of Stadacona, who know the remedy for this, administer a decoction of annedda to the survivors. They are cured in the space of a few days. According to specialists, annedda is surely a conifer, probably the white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis), which used to be known as the arbor vitae, or tree of life, because it "preserves life". The Mohawk are well aware of the cedar's beneficial properties, and use its leaves to make a herbal tea. The wood of this very old tree is often used to construct frames, and appears to guarantee long life to objects such as Algonquian canoes, Micmac and Malecite arrows, and Algonquin basket frames.

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