Farkleberry

Scientific Name(s): Vaccinium arboreum
Abundance: uncommon
What: berries
How: raw, cooked, jam/jelly, maybe wine
Where: woods
When: fall, winter
Nutritional Value: antioxidants, some carbohydrates
Dangers: none, but do not mistake for toxic Chinese privet.

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are alternate along the stem.

Leaf Shape: Simple, elliptical leaves with entire or slightly dentate margins, typically measuring 2 to 4 inches in length.

Leaf Color: Foliage is typically green, but it can turn reddish in the fall.

Flower Structure: Small, bell-shaped, white to pinkish flowers arranged in racemes.

Flower Size: Individual flowers are around 0.2 to 0.3 inches long.

Fruit (Berry): The fruit is a berry, typically dark purple to black when ripe, measuring around 0.2 to 0.4 inches in diameter. Grow individually.

Bark: Bark is a rusty-reddish color with a brick-like pattern. 

Height: Farkleberry can grow to be a large shrub or a small tree, reaching heights of 10 to 30 feet.

Hairs: Stems and leaves are generally smooth.

Branching Pattern: The branching pattern is irregular, and the plant may have a somewhat open form.

Growth Form: Farkleberry can have a multi-stemmed or single-trunked growth form.

Ripe farkleberries. They remain edible even when shriveled into raisin-like appearance.


Close-up of farkleberries.


Dried farkleberries.


Smashed fruit. Farkleberries have very small seeds compared to many other viburnum fruit.


Close-up of Farkleberry flowers.


Unripe farkleberries (late August, Big Thicket State Park).


Farkleberry leaves. Note the alternating opposite arrangement. The leaves turn red in the winter and usually drop off though many leaves will still be attached when new leaves are budding.




Farkleberry trunk. Note the "brick-like" pattern of the bark.




Young farkleberry branches have a reddish color but lack the brick-like bark pattern.


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.


Filling the spaces between bigger trees in gulf coast and east Texas woods, the small, understory Farkleberry trees play a vital role in keeping woodland creatures fed...including foragers! Their distinctive bark, looking like orange/brown brickwork makes it an easy plant to identify even when neither flowers or fruit are present. Novice foragers often mistake the Farkleberry for Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) based on their similar leaves. While both grow their leaves in a zig-zag pattern, the edges of Farkleberry leaves are smooth while Yaupon holly leaf edges are bumpy. Another close relative, Rusty Blackhaw (Viburnum rufidulum), has similar bark and leaves but football-shaped fruit containing one big seed.

Farkleberries are ripe when black which happens in the fall and will remain on the tree and edible well into winter even when somewhat dried and wrinkled. They make a sweet snack, though somewhat small and seedy.


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.

Greenbriar

Scientific name: Smilax spp.
Abundance: plentiful
What: tender vines (portion easily snapped off by hand), tendrils, tubers, leaves, berries
How: vines and tendrils are eaten raw, steamed or baked; roots are sliced, then pounded and boiled to free starch; berries eaten raw or made into jams or jelly
Where: shady forests
When: All year
Nutritional Value: tubers high in starch & minerals; leaves & stems high assorted vitamins and minerals.
Dangers: sharp thorns

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves of greenbriar are arranged alternately along the stem.

Leaf Shape: Leaves are typically simple and vary in shape, ranging from ovate to lanceolate, depending on the species.

Leaf Venation: Palmate venation, with multiple veins running from the base to the edges of each leaf.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is typically entire or slightly toothed.

Leaf Color: The leaves can vary in color but are often medium to dark green. Mottling may be present on some species.

Flower Structure: Greenbriar produces clusters of small, inconspicuous flowers.

Flower Color: Flowers are typically greenish-white or greenish-yellow.

Fruit: The fruit is typically a berry, often round or oval in shape, and can be red, dark blue, or black, depending on the species. Skin is thin but tough, inside is a clear or gray/offwhite flesh that is very chewy.

Seed: Inside the berry are small seeds.

Stem: The stem is typically climbing or trailing, often with thorns or prickles, for the first 9 feet in height. Two tendrils grow from the base of each leaf. 

Root: The roots produce large, woody tubers with red-pink skins. Flesh inside the tubers will be white or faint pink when you, turning more red and tough/woody as the tuber ages. 

Hairs: Smilax are generally hairless

Height: Greenbriar is a climbing or trailing vine and can reach varying heights depending on its support structure.

Edible tip of greenbriar (bullbriar) vine.


Close-up of greenbriar (bullbriar) vine tip.


Edible tip of other Greenbriar. Note the thorns and two tendrils at base of leaf.


Greenbriars and Catbriars are the only vines with both thorns and tendrils.






Greenbriar (bullbriar) tubers and vines.


Same tuber body as above after digging up. The youngest, best tuber will be the white one next to where the vine joins the tubers.


This is an ideal Greenbriar tuber!


Some tubers turned up by a construction crew.


Close-up of greenbriar (bullbriar) tuber.


Berries in January. They have a slight sweet taste and contain 1-2 inedible seeds.




Slicing up a tuber in preparation for collecting it's starch.


Dried slices of greenbriar (bullbriar) naturally turn reddish-orange.


Leaves of different types of Catbriar. They are all palmate-veined.


Edible tip of catbriar.






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.


If there's woods near you there's likely Greenbriar in those woods! Greenbriar is one of the best wild foods available as it can be found in immense quantities all year-round, it's vine tips taste really good, they are very nutritious, and its tubers are a great source of calories. Greenbriars are the only vines that have both tendrils and thorns making them easy to identify.

To find the edible tips just pull on the greenbriar vine until you get to it's top end. You can eat any soft, tender portion of the plant (stem, leaves, and tendrils). The vines may grow as a single stalk or branch out into many vines ranging in diameter from 1/8" to over 3/4". Multiple branching vines are more common with smaller-diameter plants. These above ground portions of the plant can all be eaten raw, the leaves and tendrils can also be cooked like spinach, and the vines can cooked like asparagus.

Track the thickest vines back to their buried tubers. These tubers can form a mass up to 75 pounds but are difficult to dig due to their many long roots. Due to their highly fibrous nature, Greenbriar tubers can't be used like potatoes. The starch produced from the tubers may have an astringent, odd taste but it is rich in calories. It is exceptionally good at thickening stews and even water to the point of becoming almost Jello-like. Native Americans would slow roast the tubers under a fire for several days, then chew the cooked starch out of the tubers and spit out the fibers. The youngest tubers are the best to harvest. They will be the lightest in color though the color may be white, light pink, light purple or light yellow.

The starch was also collected by slicing the tubers into 1/4" disks, letting them dry in the sun for a few days, then crumbing the disks in a large bowl of water. The granules of starch fall to the bottom of the bowl and the fibers float to the top. The water and fibers were discarded and the starch was dried and then ground up for use as flour. It still has a bitter taste but it'll give you calories.

The tubers can also be shaved into small pieces and then boiled to make a tea. I prefer to first roast the tubers under a hot fire for a while to the point where their outer skin begins to blacken. Peel off the burned parts, dice up the rest then boil in water to make a vaguely root beer/caramel flavored tea. Getting the right amount of roasting to get this flavor requires some practice.


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.

Mulberry

Scientific name: Morus microphylla and other Morus species
Abundance: plentiful
What: berries (red, pink or white), young leaves, inner bark
How: berries raw, dried, jelly, wine. Young leaves in salad. Inner bark can be boiled and eaten all year.
Where: Woods, borders between woods and fields, urban landscapes
When: spring
Nutritional Value: high in vitamins C&K, minerals and some carbohydrates

Medicinal Summary: 1g of mulberry leaves have the blood sugar control powers of a standard dose of Metformin. 

Leaf Arrangement: Simple, alternate leaves along the stems.

Leaf Shape: Varied leaf shapes among species, commonly lobed or heart-shaped, with lengths ranging from 2 to 8 inches. Palmate veins are sunken on topside of the leaf and raised on the underside.

Leaf Color: Green foliage, but shades may vary.

Leaf Margin: Leaf margins can be serrated or entire. Asymmetrical lobes may be prsent on mature leaves whereas sapling leaves will have five distinct, symmetrical lobes.

Flower Structure: Small, pale flowers arranged in catkins or clusters approximately 1" long

Flower Size: Individual flowers are very small, typically less than 0.2 inches.

Fruit (Mulberries): Multiple small, juicy berries clustered together similar to blackberries, ranging from 0.5 to 1 inch in length. Colors can range from light pink to very dark purple when ripe. Immature fruit will be white to pale green.

Seed Size: Seeds within the berries are small, less than 0.2 inches.

Bark: Bark color and texture vary among species, often brown to gray and smooth on young trees, becoming rougher with age.

Height: Mulberry trees can range from 15 to 30 feet or more, depending on the species.

Mulberry flowers in mid-March in Houston.


Ripe and unripe mulberries (picture taken in late April).







Leaves all from the same Mulberry tree. They can have 0-5 lobes.


Young mullberries (picture taken in November)


Mulberry seedlings are very odd looking with leaves very differently shaped than those of mature trees.


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.


Usually preferring a bit of shade to full sun, mulberry trees are found just about anywhere trees grow in Texas though they usually like a fair amount of water. The leaves are highly variable, ranging from unlobed to five lobes and drop off in the fall, not reappearing until spring. The bark of mulberry trees is smooth and gray. The wood is strong and makes good tool handles.

Come spring, the young leaves can be collected and added to a salad. The inner bark (cambium layer) can be pounded into into fines then boiled into a rough porridge.

The immature berries are white and should not be eaten. Ripe berries can vary in color from white to dark purple. You can tell they are ripe when they come off the tree with just a slight tug. Mulberry fruit is usually ready just after blackberries ripen leading to a supply of lots of berries.

The easiest way to harvest the berries is lay a tarp or sheet under the tree and then shaking the branches. Ripe fruit will fall onto the tarp where they are easily collected.


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.

Palm - California Fan

Scientific Name(s): Washingtonia filifera
Abundance: uncommon
What: fruit, seeds, palm heart,
How: fruit raw, dried, cooked, jelly; seeds ground up then boiled; palm heart roasted or pickled
Where: landscaping, dry areas
When: Spring, Summer, Fall
Nutritional Value:
Dangers:

This is a native palm and was utilized by Native Americans. Fruit is blue-black, pea-sized and eaten raw, dried, cooked, or made into jellies. Fruit and seed are dried, ground up, then boiled as porridge. Edible heart (central, youngest leaf bud) is roasted though harvesting the heart kills the palm. Leaf fibers used as cordage.


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.

Palm - Dwarf Palmetto

Scientific name: Sabal minor
Abundance: plentiful
What: The "heart" of the plant, fruit
How: Raw, cooked
Where: Shady, moist, low areas
When: Buds all year, fruit late summer to mid-fall
Nutritional Value: rich source of carbohydrates
Other uses: Fibers/cordage
Dangers: very pointy leaves

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are arranged in a fan-like or palmate manner, emerging from a central point.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are palmately compound, with each leaf blade having a length of about 3 to 4 feet and a width of approximately 2 to 3 feet.

Leaf Venation: The venation is of the leaflets is parallel.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is typically entire, presenting a smooth edge.

Leaf Color: The leaves are green, and there's usually no significant color difference between the top and underside.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and crown-shaped, arranged in large, branched clusters (inflorescences) called panicles. The individual flowers have a diameter of about 0.25 inches.

Flower Color: The flowers are creamy white or light yellow.

Fruit: The fruit is a black, fleshy drupe, about 0.5 inches in diameter, and is produced in clusters.

Seed: The seeds are hard, brown-black, and usually solitary within each drupe.

Stem: The stems are short and subterranean (underground), giving rise to the fan-shaped leaves. 

Hairs: The plant is generally glabrous, meaning it lacks noticeable hairs on its leaves and stems.

Height: Sabal minor typically reaches a height of 4 to 8 feet, with the fan-shaped leaves spreading wide, creating a distinctive appearance.

Dwarf palmetto plant.


Stand of Dwarf Palmettos.


Dwarf palmetto flowering in July in the Houston area.


Close-up view of the dwarf palmetto flowers.


Still closer view of the flowers.


Fruit (edible when flat black in color).




Underground portion of root system exposed along river bank.


Root section dug up and peeled to reach terminal bud and heart.


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.


Dwarf palmettos are good sources of calories all year. The easiest way to get the "heart" of this palm is to dig up, root ball and all, then peel/cut away the fronds. Eventually you'll reach an inner section that looks like the inner portions of celery or an artichoke heart. Cut away the roots and anything still stiff or hard. Anything soft is edible. It has a somewhat bitter, unusual taste raw. Roasting it makes it a little sweeter.

The berries begin appearing in late summer and are usually edible into mid-fall in the fall. They are very nutritious and supposedly are good for the prostrate. A word of warning though. These berries taste really good to about 85% of the population. 15% of humans have an extra taste receptor that can sense a particular chemical in these berries that the other 85% can't. I have those extra taste sensors and to me the fruit tastes the way cat vomit smells. Most likely they'll taste good to you.

The berries have a larger kernel from which palm oil can be pressed. You can find ready-made nut oil presses on line as well as directions on how to make your own oil press out of some pieces of pipe and an auger bit.

Dwarf palmettos grow in low, wet, shady areas. If you are looking to buy property and dwarf palmettos are present you can be pretty sure that area floods often!


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.