Here's every plant in The Long Dark and how to use them to help you survive the game's harsh environment.

The Long Dark is a beautiful and wild experience set on the Canadian island of Great Bear, populated with a variety of natural resources. Hunting the fauna might be a little tricky sometimes, but luckily the flora can't run away, and there's plenty of it around.

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Part of surviving a long time is rationing the limited items provided to you, such as man-made medicines and weaponry. If you pay attention to your surroundings, however, there are a lot of alternatives. There's even an achievement for healing yourself using all-natural first aid. The plants in this realistic game have real-life counterparts that have been used throughout history to benefit humanity, with varying degrees of success, but don't attempt to recreate any of this at home!

In the Canadian wilderness, you're never going to be short on trees, and one of the most common and useful are the Birch trees. You can spot them in clusters randomly around the world, tall and white with gray or black stripes, though there are areas where groves of Birch trees will always grow. In particular, Pleasant Valley has a whole forest of them to the east behind the Barn. Both bears and moose patrol it and can be hard to spot between the dense wood, though.

In groups of two to seven, Birch Saplings can grow nearby their mature counterparts and require a Hatchet or Hacksaw to harvest. When dropped indoors, they take five days to dry, at which point they can be crafted into three Arrow Shafts using a Knife at a Workbench. Birch Saplings can also be found along the coast, where the sea washes up random items.

Respawning every few days, Birch Bark can be found on the floor around Birch Trees and are camouflaged against the snow pretty well! In its natural state it can be used as Tinder for starting fires, but if you have five minutes the Bark can be torn up by hand as the basis for Birch Bark Tea. With a little Potable Water and fire, you have a limitless resource that will restore 2.5 percent of your condition per hour, regardless if you're asleep, awake or even actively dying!

Maple Saplings are another plant that requires a Hatchet or Hacksaw to harvest but tend to grow in smaller clusters of one or two out in the open. Over the course of six days indoors, this Green Maple Sapling will cure into its most useful state. Then, with two Cured Guts and a Knife, the player can craft a Survival Bow at a Workbench.

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It takes five in-game hours, which can be broken up into 30-minute intervals if you're concerned about light, weather changes, or your condition.

Just how many Cat Tail plants that spawn in each playthrough is random, but the average amount seems to be over 1,000. The plant is broken up into two components; the Stalk and the Head. Both are harvested by hand and can be found growing along the edges of freshwater bodies such as streams, lakes, and ponds. The Cat Tail Stalk is the edible part, providing 150 Calories without draining any Thirst. They've pretty light and essential when playing Interloper.

The Cat Tail Head is useful only as Tinder. You can select which item to use as Tinder when in the Fire starting UI with the arrows on either side of the item's image. The Heads don't provide any bonus to your Fire starting likelihood, but they're quick and easy to source.

Commonly found growing at the entrances to caves, nearby buildings, and other named locations, Rose Hip Bushes can be a real lifesaver. Harvesting a bush by hand rewards the player with eight Rose Hips, and 24 are needed for the Rose Hip Tea recipe. Preparing them is something to do in the dark for 15 minutes when you can't sleep anymore but are too afraid to go outside just yet. Their spawn locations are the same in every playthrough, so keep a note, especially if you plan to try Interloper.

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Once you've prepared the 24 Rose Hips, pop them in a Can with 0.25l of Potable Water and place them beside a Campfire or on a six ring Stove if you feel fancy. The resulting tea acts as a single dose of Painkillers, enabling your character to run if they twisted their ankle or hold a gun if they sprained a wrist. It will also warm you up if you drink it quickly enough and replenish 100 Calories to boot.

The final tea available in the game, Reishi Tea, can save your run if you can't find any more Antibiotics. The Afflictions that require Antibiotics tend to be the ones that will slowly kill your characters, such as Dysentery, Infections from animal attacks, and Intestinal Parasites. Eating any form of carnivore meat, cooked or raw, has a chance to inflict Intestinal Parasites unless you've reached a Cooking Skill of five and requires between ten and twenty doses of Antibiotics to survive.

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You'll need two Reishi Mushrooms for a Tea, and they have to be prepared by hand first. The Mushrooms can be found on dead tree stumps across Great Bear, but especially in deadfall and logging areas, and will never regrow. They are, however, still a renewable resource as Reishi Mushrooms have a chance of washing up along the coast for any Beachcombers out there. Just like all other teas, it will require some water in a Can or Pot and provides 100 Calories.

The final herbal alternative for other medicines found in The Long Dark is the Old Man's Beard Lichen. This acts as an Antiseptic, and can be wrapped around a wound to prevent Infection, which would eventually require Antibiotics. It's much lighter than the Hydrogen Peroxide bottle, which weighs 0.70kg when full and holds only five doses, whereas a single use of Old Man's Beard Wound Dressing weighs only 0.1kg.

The Lichen is often found hanging from low branches of trees in groups of two to three. This plant also doesn't regrow but can turn up when Beachcombing. The Wound Dressing is made up of three Old Man's Beard Lichen and is prepared by hand, even in the dark. Despite being a Dressing for the Blood Loss Affliction, it will not stop the Bleeding - which still requires a Bandage.

Next: The Long Dark: Tips For Beginners

Rosa Baumgartl has been an avid gamer for years, with particular interest in survival and adventure games. Having been an editor of various newsletters throughout her education, the jump to writing for TheGamer seemed like an obvious step. Outside of gaming, Rosa's hobbies include knitting, gardening and reading science fiction.