Lantana

Scientific Name(s): Lantana spp.
Abundance: plentiful
What: ripe berries (dark blue colored)
How: raw or cooked
Where: sunny yards, borders, fields
When: summer, fall
Nutritional Value: low
Dangers: Leaves and unripe fruit are very poisonous and eating them can lead to death.

Medicinal Summary:
Leaves* - wound healing; antimicrobial (poultice, tisane used as a wash)
*external use only due to being extremely poisonous if taken internally

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are arranged oppositely alternating along the stems.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are ovate to lanceolate, with a length ranging from 2 to 5 inches and a width of 1 to 3 inches.

Leaf Venation: The venation is typically pinnate, with prominent lateral veins.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is serrated, providing a toothed appearance.

Leaf Color: The leaves are green, and there may be variations in color on the top and underside.

Flower Structure: The flowers are arranged in clusters, known as umbels, at the ends of the stems. Each flower has a tubular structure with a diameter of approximately 0.5 to 1 inch and features multiple small, tubular petals.

Flower Color: Lantana flowers exhibit a wide range of colors, including shades of pink, orange, yellow, and purple. In some species, flowers change color as they age.

Fruit: The fruit is a small, fleshy drupe, usually dark purple to black when mature.

Seed: Seeds are small, ovoid, and dark-colored, often found within the fruits.

Stem: The stems are typically green, woody, and may have a slightly square-shaped appearance.

Hairs: The plant may have fine hairs on the stems and leaves. Leaves have a rough texture.

Height: Lantana plants vary in height but generally range from 1 to 4 feet, depending on the species and growing conditions.

Lantana plant and flowers. TOXIC! DEADLY!


Another lantana. TOXIC! DEADLY!


Lantana berries, edible only when fully ripe.


Texas distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture. The marked counties are guidelines only. Plants may appear in other counties, especially if used in landscaping.


North American distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture.


Cooked lantana berries are considered starvation food in that they aren't eaten unless there's nothing else to eat. All other parts of the plant are deadly! Boil or toast the berries before eating them.

The pungent leaves of Lantanas contain powerful antibiotics and after mashing the fresh leaves they can be used EXTERNALLY on wounds to reduce the chance of infection. Do NOT chew the leaves to make the poultice as they'll poison you.


Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Lichen

Scientific name: That's a bit complicated.
Abundance: plentiful
What: entire lichen
How: boil with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or hardwood ashes to neutralize acid, then either eat the resulting goo or add it to any stew, soup, or bread recipe.
Where: on trees, rocks, and ground everywhere in the world.
When: any time
Nutritional Value: carbohydrates, usnic acid
Dangers: neutralize lichen acids with hardwood ash to prevent stomachache

Thallus: The body of the lichen, known as the thallus, is the most visible part. It can have various shapes and sizes, ranging from leafy to crusty or even hair-like. Colors may be gray, green, yellow, red, or orange depending on the fungi and algae/bacteria involved.

Cortex: The outer layer of the thallus is the cortex, which is composed of tightly packed fungal cells. This layer provides protection and can be transparent or pigmented.

Algal Layer: Beneath the cortex is the algal layer, where the photosynthetic partner (algae or cyanobacteria) resides. This layer is crucial for the lichen's survival, as it produces food through photosynthesis.

Medulla: Below the algal layer is the medulla, a loosely arranged layer of fungal hyphae. This layer helps in the storage of water and nutrients and provides a structure to the lichen.

Lower Cortex: Some lichens have a lower cortex that mirrors the upper cortex, offering additional protection and support.

Rhizines and Holdfasts: Many lichens have structures called rhizines or holdfasts on their lower surfaces. These structures anchor the lichen to the substrate (like rock, bark, or soil) but do not absorb nutrients like true roots.

Apothecia and Perithecia: For reproduction, lichens may have specialized structures like apothecia (disc-shaped fruiting bodies) or perithecia (flask-shaped fruiting bodies), where spores are produced.

Soredia and Isidia: Some lichens reproduce asexually through small structures called soredia or isidia. These are tiny, vegetative parts that can break off and grow into new lichens.

Oakmoss lichen (Evernia prunastri, the stringy ones) & Flavoparmelia caperata (the flatter ones) on an oak tree.

Oakmoss lichen (Evernia prunastri, the stringy ones) & Flavoparmelia caperata (the flatter ones) on an oak tree.

Generic edible lichen.


Another generic edible lichen.


And another edible lichen.


Orange/yellow colors in lichens indicate it contains usnic acid, a molecule supposedly used by the human body to convert consumed protein into muscle mass. Using acid does have antibiotic properties and is used in many topical creams, toothpastes, and other personal care products.


Samples of fructicose lichens.


Samples of foliose lichens.


Samples of crustose lichens.


Texas distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture. The marked counties are guidelines only. Plants may appear in other counties, especially if used in landscaping.


North American distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture.


Lichens are a symbiotic organism made up of a fungus combined with an algae and are found on just about every tree and most rocks. The come in many bright colors which makes them a popular source of traditional dyes. Current naming convention is to classify it by the fungal portion. They can also be separated by their three growth types:
1. Crustose, which form crust-like sheets flat against the surface on which they are growing.
2. Foliose, which form stringy or leaf-like structures above the surface.
3. Fruticose, which form bulbous growths on top of stalks attached to the surface. These resemble tiny mushrooms.

As mentioned earlier, all but two lichens are edible. However most lichen are considered starvation foods and only eaten as a last resort. The traditional method involves boiling the lichens in several changes of water with some ashes from hardwood. The hardwood ashes produce lye (sodium hydroxide) which neutralizes acidic compounds in the lichen. If you don't neutralize the acids somehow you'll end up with a bad stomachache. Use approximately 1-2 teaspoons of ashes or baking soda per two cups of chopped lichen.

Lichens contain some carbs along with some vitamin C. Note that due to the high solubility of vitamin C in water, ideally you should drink your changes of water after filtering out the wood ash. The flavor can (must!) be improved by adding some other fruit, leaf, or other agent to the lichen stew. I prefer young blackberries leaves.

Another important compound found in yellow/orange lichens is Usnic Acid. Medicinally, this chemical has been shown to have antibiotic, antiviral, and antiprotozoal activity. Using acid functions somewhat like aspirin with anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties. More recently, it has been sold as a weight loss/muscle mass increaser.

Of the thousands of different lichens, only two are not edible. These two toxic ones are Wolf Moss Lichen (Letharia vulpina) and the related Letharia columbiana. These lichens are found from the Yukon down along the West Coast. Wolf Moss lichen is a bright yellow, stringy lichen used to poison wolves and also make a lovely yellow dye. Letharia columbiana is bright green, stingy and found in the same geographic areas.


Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Lizard's Tail

Scientific Name(s): Saururus cernuus
Abundance: uncommon
What: roots, leaves
How: tea
Where: moist areas, edge of water.
When: spring, summer, fall
Nutritional Value: none

Medicinal Summary:
Roots - sedative; pain relief; wound healing (tisane)

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are arranged alternately along the stems.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are heart-shaped (cordate) with a length of approximately 4 to 8 inches and a width of 3 to 6 inches.

Leaf Venation: The venation is prominently palmate, radiating from the base of the leaf like the fingers of a hand.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is smooth (entire) with no serrations.

Leaf Color: The upper side of the leaves is typically medium to dark green, while the underside may have a paler hue.

Flower Structure: The flowers are arranged in a spike-like cluster, known as a raceme, located at the tip of a drooping (cernuus) stem. Each flower is small, with a diameter of about 0.2 to 0.3 inches, and has no distinct petals but rather white to greenish sepals.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually white or cream-colored.

Fruit: The fruit is a small, elongated capsule.

Seed: Seeds are tiny, ovoid, and brown.

Stem: The stems are erect, slender, and may have a reddish tint. They bear the raceme of flowers at the top.

Hairs: The plant is generally hair-free but the flower spikes may feel slightly fuzzy while still immature and green.

Height: Saururus cernuus typically grows to a height of 1 to 3 feet, with the flowering spike extending above the foliage.

Bed of Lizard's Tail plants.




Close-up of leaf.


Lizard's Tail flower stalk before flowers develop.


Lizard's Tail flowerhead and leaves.


The rhizome roots of Lizard's Tail.


Texas distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture. The marked counties are guidelines only. Plants may appear in other counties, especially if used in landscaping.


North American distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture.


Look for Lizard's Tail lining the banks of shaded Texas ponds beginning in the late winter and lasting until mid-fall. The "tails" show up in late April, blossoms in May, and are gone by July. The root can be gathered any time of year.

It has no edible/nutritional value but its roots have a long history of being used medicinally as a tea, which has both sedative and some pain-relieving properties. A wash made from boiled roots was used as a surface wash for rheumatism. Also, a paste of boiled then mashed roots was applied the sore, chapped breasts of nursing mothers and to heal flesh wounds.


Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Loblolly Pine

Scientific Name(s): Pinus genus
Abundance: plentiful
What: needles, seeds, inner bark
How: needle tea; seeds raw, roasted; inner bark toasted
Where: prefer low wet areas, landscaping
When: all year
Nutritional Value: vitamin C, calories
Dangers: some pine needles may contain phytoestrogens which can cause miscarriages in cattle under certain situations. Because of this pregnant humans are also advised to avoid them...mainly because there are lawyers in the world and I don't want to be sued.

Medicinal Summary:
Needles - antioxidant; anti-scurvy; high in vitamin C, may help undo damage of artificial spike proteins (tisane, tincture)
Sap - antifungal; minor antibacterial (poultice)

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are arranged in fascicles (bundles), usually in groups of three.

Leaf Shape: Long, slender needles, approximately 6 to 9 inches in length.

Leaf Venation: Needle-like leaves with parallel venation.

Leaf Margin: The needle-like leaves have entire margins.

Leaf Color: Needles are green when living and turn brown when dead.

Flower Structure: Loblolly pines produce both male and female cones, approximately 1.5" long and 1/4" wide.

Flower Color: Male cones are small and yellow, while female cones are larger and brown.

Fruit: The fruit is in the form of woody cones, approximately 3 to 6 inches in length.They are green while growing and then turn brown when mature.

Seed: Seeds are small, winged, and brown. Each cone may contain numerous seeds.

Bark: The brown bark is scaly and becomes furrowed with age.

Hairs: Loblolly pines have hairless needles and bark.

Height: Texas pines can reach heights of up to 100 feet.

Loblolly pine








Long Leaf pine (Pinus palustris , left) have needles over 10" long. Loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda, right) needles average 5" long.

Pollen-producing "flowers" before releasing pollen. These do not become pine cones but just release pine pollen.


Loblolly Pine flowers during the release pollen.


Pine pollen contains the molecule Androstenedione which is close enough to testosterone to trick the human body. Pine pollen in tequila...what could possibly go wrong?!

Loblolly Pine cones and their "winged" seeds. The gray, open cone already dropped its seeds but the tightly closed gray and green cones will contain harvestable seeds.


Squirrels will show you when the green cones are ripe by tearing them apart to get to the seeds at the base of each scale.


Tiny pine seedlings can be plucked then added to salads.


Making tea but the needles need to be chopped up into much smaller pieces.


Fresh pine sap ready to be made into Native American glue.




Texas distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture. The marked counties are guidelines only. Plants may appear in other counties, especially if used in landscaping.


North American distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture.


Majestic loblolly trees, over 100ft tall at maturity, are often referred to as "telephone pole trees" as their long, thick, straight trunks made great telephone poles back in the day. They prefer low, wet areas but their vigorous growth and cheap price make them a popular landscaping tree in urban areas.

Like the pines of the north which Sacajawea used to cure scurvy in Lewis & Clark's men, loblolly pine needles are rich in vitamin C. However, they also contain phytoestrogen molecules which can lead to miscarriages in women. For this reason, pregnant women should avoid drinking pine needle tea whether from loblollys or other pines. To make pine tea dice up fresh, green pine needles and soak them in hot but not boiling water for up to ten minutes. If boiled, the resulting tea will end up containing a high concentration of unpleasant-tasting terpenes (it's taste like Pine-Sol cleaner). If you do it right the tea will smell like morning in a pine forest...fantastic!

Unlike most eastern/northern white pines (Pinus strobus), the inner bark of the loblolly pine is not considered a source of food/calories because its cambium layer (inner bark) doesn't taste nearly as good as the cambium of white pines. However, in an emergency it will sustain you. Up north, White Pine (Pinus strobus) has delicious inner bark, tasting somewhat like bacon when fried.

Outer bark cut away to reveal inner, cambium layer (white) over the wood (yellow).


Peel the cambium layer into thin sheets, the thinner the better.


Cook the inner bark until it is brown and crispy all over. These still need more cooking.


In the spring yellow pine pollen coats everything around these trees. This pollen is chemically almost exactly identical to the male hormone testosterone and can be purchased over the internet as a testosterone supplement. Native American warriors would carry a small bag of this pollen with them to eat before battles to "pump them up" for the coming fight.

Pine sap burns fiercely because it's a mixture of long-chain organic molecules and turpentine-like compounds. It ignites early which makes it an excellent fire starting material. Fresh sap was also mixed with rabbit dung and wood as to make a Native American glue. To make this glue carefully heat up the sap to a full liquid state in a metal can or old pot. Then for every ~4 parts sap add 1 part ground-up dried rabbit pellets and 1 part wood ash. The fine plant fibers from the rabbit dung worked like the fiber strands in high-strength packing tape. The sap would be carefully melted in a container over a fire, mixed with the rabbit dung and wood ash, then "swirled" onto the top of twigs. When they needed some glue this twig/sap/dung "lollipop" was softened over a fire and dabbed onto what ever needed gluing.

Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Loquat

Scientific Name(s): Eriobotrya japonica
Abundance: plentiful
What: fruit, leaves
How: fruit raw, dried, jam/jelly, wine; leaves made into tea
Where: landscaping
When: spring
Nutritional Value: calories, vitamin A, trace minerals

Medicinal Summary:
Leaves - anti-cancer; anti-inflammatory; cough suppressant; congestion relief; anti-viral for lung-specific infections (tisane, tincture)
Seeds - anti-inflammatory; reduces chemotherapy damages; reduces allergic dermatitis; anti-diabetic types I & II (tisane, tincture)

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are alternately arranged along the branches.

Leaf Shape: Leaves are oblong to elliptical, commonly measuring 5 to 12 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide.

Leaf Venation: The venation is pinnate, with prominent midribs and noticeable lateral veins.

Leaf Margin: Margins are serrated or toothed, especially towards the leaf tip.

Leaf Color: Dark green on the upper surface, often with a rusty or grayish-brown underside due to dense pubescence.

Flower Structure: The 1" diameter flowers have 5 petals and are arranged in dense terminal panicles 6 to 10 inches long.

Flower Color: Typically white or cream-colored.

Fruit: Produces a pome fruit, similar in appearance to an apple, usually 1 to 2 inches in diameter.

Seed: Each fruit contains one to five large, brown seeds.

Stem: Branches are woody and can become quite thick in older plants.

Hairs: Leaves have a dense, woolly pubescence, particularly on the underside.

Height: The tree can grow to 10 to 30 feet in height.

Loquat tree


Closeup of loquat flower on New Year's Day.


Young loquat fruit




Ripe loquat fruit on tree.


Ripe loquat fruit artistically displayed in a bowl.


North American distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture.


Loquat trees have a tropical appearance yet are evergreen and can handle cold weather down to 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit. They are a common landscaping tree in Houston and thrive here. Their golden fruit ripens in late spring with the best crops coming after a cool winter. They are self fertile which is convenient for homeowners. The fruit has an elongated shape but is smaller than a golf ball and contain 1-3 fairly large, inedible seeds. They have a sweet, tangy taste and can be eaten in many ways including raw, candied, stewed, made into jams, jelly, or wine or dried. Some people prefer to peel off the tart, fuzzy skin. A tree over seven years old can produce up to 110 pounds of fruit each year!

Tea made from loquat leaves is considered a strong medicine in Asia. Besides containing large concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants they also contain amygdalin which is believed to help repair liver damage/increase liver functioning. For diabetics, loquats leaves contain triterpens (tormentic acid) and assorted polysaccharides, both of which may stimulate insulin production which is beneficial for diabetics. Leaves and creams made from the leaves were placed on skin cancers and loquat leaf tea was used to fight internal cancers.

The seeds of loquats can be used to create an amaretto-flavored liquor. Add 5-7 chopped loquat seeds to 1 liter of 90-proof or greater alcohol lad let soak with shaking for six months. After six months strain out the seeds and add up to 250 mL of sugar water (1 cup water + 1 cup sugar) to sweeten. Base the amount of sugar water on taste...but don't drink all your liquor while trying to get the proportions right!


Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.