Increasing nitrogen deposition to forests can impact the balance between the carbon and nitrogen cycles. This nitrogen source, if taken up and used by forests, can increase growth and carbon storage. While previous findings have suggested that nitrogen deposition is not an important source of nitrogen for a forest ecosystem, the possibility of canopy uptake was not considered. Foliar uptake and utilization of inorganic nitrogen, such as NO2 and NH3, has been shown to occur, but utilization of organic nitrogen has not been demonstrated directly. Here we show for the first time that atmospheric organic nitrates (RONO2), one form of organic nitrogen, can be taken up by foliage and incorporated into the leaf amino acids, and we discuss possible uptake mechanisms.