Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek in Door County, Wisconsin — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

A Tree That Heals

Balsam Poplar

Photographed by Sean Flynn, August 8, 2024

1. A Tree That Heals Marker

Inscription. In spring, balsam poplar's long sticky buds emit a sweet, slightly medicinal smell. Menominee Indians boiled the buds in animal fat to create an ointment that relieved congestion. Settlers used the ointment, too, and called it Balm of Gilead. It was rich in salicin, a substance from which we derive aspirin.

Balsam poplars regenerate from root sprouts. These three old poplars are the "parents" of the young poplars on the other side of the trail.

Can you see white pines marching into the meadow? In time, these woody pioneers will change the field to forest.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & Forestry • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Parks & Recreational Areas • Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 45° 9.544′ N, 87° 12.645′ W. Marker is in Fish Creek, Wisconsin, in Door County. It is in Peninsula State Park. It can be reached from Highland Road 1½ miles north of Water Street (Wisconsin Highway 42), on the left when traveling north. The marker is in Peninsula State Park along the Sentinel Trail, about a mile

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from its trail head at Eagle Tower. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 9462 Shore Road, Fish Creek WI 54212, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula.

It is also in the American Midwest,

on the Great Lakes,

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Past Life (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Northwoods Newcomer (approx. 0.2 miles away); Forest Nursery (approx. 0.2 miles away); Rock Pavement (approx. ¼ mile away); Triple Trunk (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Candelabra Tree (approx. 0.3 miles away); A Worldly Pine (approx. 0.4 miles away); Growing a Forest (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fish Creek.

More about this marker. The marker is one of roughly two dozen interpretive signs that have

Photographed by Sean Flynn, August 8, 2024

2. A Tree That Heals Marker

been erected along the Sentinel Trail in Peninsula Park, all pertaining to the park's ecology (and many of them also referencing history).

Also see . . . Balsam Poplar - Populus Balsamifera. A look at the balsam poplar tree from the University of Minnesota (Submitted on August 12, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 12, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 12, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 126 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 12, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.