Grape - Frost

Scientific name: Vitis vulpina
Abundance: uncommon
What: fruit, leaves, young tendrils
How: fruit raw, cooked, dried, preserves, wine; leaves and tendrils cooked
Where: edges of woods, ravines, fence lines.
When: winter, fruit best after frost
Nutritional Value: calories, very low in vitamins and minerals.

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

Leaf Shape: Leaves are typically palmately lobed, with three to five lobes, each lobe being broadly ovate, measuring approximately 2 to 5 inches in width.

Leaf Venation: Pinnate venation, with veins running from the base to the tip of each leaf lobe.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is typically serrated or toothed.

Leaf Color: The leaves are green on top and lighter in color underneath.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and greenish, occurring in clusters known as inflorescences, with individual diameters of about 1/8".

Flower Color: Flowers are typically greenish-yellow.

Fruit: The fruit is a grape, often small with a diameter of approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch, and purple to black when ripe.

Seed: Inside the grape are small, round, and brown seeds.

Stem: The stem is typically climbing, with tendrils for support.

Hairs: Fine hairs may be present on some parts of the plant, including the stem.

Height: Vitis vulpina is a climbing vine and can reach varying heights depending on its support structure.

Frost grapes, ripe in August & September in Houston.

Frost grape vine. Note the alternating leaf patter.


Close-up of a single leaf.


Frost grape vine with young fruit.


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.


Frost Grape vines are impressive climbers, using many reddish tendrils to cling and wrap themselves around trees, bushes, and fences. Their leaves look similar to Muscadine Grape leaves, being smooth and green on top and underneath. However, Frost Grapes produce fruit much later than other Texas wild grape varieties. Its small, acidic fruit appear in clusters in early fall, well past the mid-summer season of Muscadine grapes.

Frost grapes aren't edible raw until after a frost. The cold weather triggers enzyme processes that break down the acids and build up sugars, turning them quite sweet. If harvested before then sweetening occurs you are limited to making jams, jelly, or wines from the still acidic fruit. Treat them like the highly acidic Mustang Grapes. Large, healthy Frost Grape leaves can be cooked and used like regular grape leaves.

In the fall Greenbriar vines produces tight clusters of black fruit, leading to misidentification. The Greenbriar fruit are non-toxic but they lack any flavor, being mainly just rubbery and tasteless. Remember, Greenbriar vines have thorns and they also have two tendrils at the base of every leaf. Frost Grape tendril appear on two nodes in a row and then skip one or more nodes. Frost Grape fruits grow in long, dangling clusters whereas Greenbriar fruits grow in ball-shaped clusters.

Greenbriar fruit, not Frost Grape fruit.



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.

Grape - Muscadine

Scientific name: Vitis rotundifolia
Abundance: common
What: fruits, leaves, young tendrils
How: fruit raw, cooked, dried, preserves, wine; leaves and tendrils cooked.
Where: Edges of woods, Its leaves aren't as fuzzy as Mustang grapes nor do they have white undersides.
When: late summer, fall
Nutritional Value:, calories, antioxidants, very low in vitamins and minerals.

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

Leaf Shape: Leaves are typically simple, round or broadly ovate, measuring approximately 2 to 5 inches in width.

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

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is typically serrated or toothed.

Leaf Color: The leaves are similar shades of green on top and underneath.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and greenish, occurring in small clusters known as inflorescences. Individual flowers are only about 1/8" or less in diameter.

Flower Color: Flowers are typically greenish-yellow.

Fruit: The fruit is a grape, often larger than most grape species, with a diameter ranging from approximately 1/2 to 1 inch, and usually dark purple to black when ripe. They grow in groups of 1-3 grapes along the vine.

Seed: Inside the grape are small, round, and brown seeds.

Stem: The stem is typically climbing, with tendrils for support. Mature stems have a woody, rugged or peeling bark. Long, hairlike strands may hang from mature stems.

Hairs: Fine hairs may be present on some parts of the plant, including the stem.

Height: Vitis rotundifolia is a climbing vine and can reach varying heights depending on its support structure.

Immature fruit.




Mature fruit.


Fallen mature fruit.


Close-up of leaves




Muscadines have a single tendril growing opposite of the leaf.


Very old vines.

Very mature grape vines.

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.


Muscadine Grape vines cover the woods of gulf coast, east, and central Texas. These fast growing vines can be found climbing many trees and old, abandoned equipment. The fruit does require sunlight to ripen properly so often it'll be way up among the tree tops rather than being easily accessible. Muscadine Grape leaves are shiny and smooth both on top and underneath, unlike the fuzzy, gray undersides and smooth, green tops of Mustang Grape leaves.

When ripe the fruit is very sweet and flavorful but unlike store-bought grapes the skins of muscadines is very thick/chewy and the inner pulp is quite gelatinous. The seeds can be eaten with the grape or saved to be crushed for grape oil. The white, powder coating on the skin is a naturally-occurring yeast which can be used to ferment the crushed grapes into wine.

Muscadine grape vines can be used as an emergency water source in the woods. Cut through a thick grape vine as high up as you can reach, followed by cutting through it again at the very bottom. To collect the water which drips out support the top end up in the air and place the bottom end below it in a container. Once the water flow stops cut two feet off the top and more water will drip out of the vine. Repeat the cutting off of the top two feet every time the water stops flowing until no vine is left.

I love this book for wine-making recipes: 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines

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.

Grape - Mustang

Scientific name: Vitis mustangensis
Abundance: plentiful
What: fruits, leaves, young tendrils
How: fruit raw (very tart), cooked, dried, preserves, wine; leaves and tendrils cooked,
Where: Edges of woods. Mustang grape leaves are fuzzy and have a white underside.
When: summer
Nutritional Value: calories, antioxidants
Other uses: water can be obtained from the vines (see technique in grapes- muscadine post), wild yeast from the fruit
Dangers: Mustang grapes are very acidic and handling/eating large amounts of the raw fruit can cause burns to hands and mouth.

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

Leaf Shape: Leaves of young vines are typically simple, palmately lobed with three to five lobes, each lobe being ovate, measuring approximately 2 to 5 inches in width. Leaves of mature vines lack the deep lobes.

Leaf Venation: Palmate venation, with veins running from the leaf base out to the tip of each leaf lobe.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is typically serrated or toothed.

Leaf Color: Tops of leaves are green while undersides are light gray.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and greenish, occurring in clusters known as inflorescences. Each individual flower is 1/8" in diameter or smaller

Flower Color: Flowers are typically greenish-yellow.

Fruit: The fruit is a grape, often larger than most grape species, with a diameter ranging from approximately 1/2 to 1 inch, and usually dark purple to black when ripe. The fruit grow on long, clusters, just like store-bought grapes.

Seed: Inside the grape are small, round, and brown seeds.

Stem: The stem is typically climbing, with tendrils for support. Bases of mature mustang grape vines can be over 4" in diameter.

Hairs: Fine hairs are present on the leaves, especially the leaf underside, and on the stems.

Height: Vitis mustangensis is a climbing vine and can reach varying heights depending on its support structure.

Mustang grape vine with unripe fruit. Note that the top of the leaves are green while their underside is white/gray. Both sides of the leaf are fuzzy to the touch.




Almost-ripe Mustang grapes.

The leaves of young mustang grape vines are more deeply lobed (left) than the leaves of mature vines (right).

The lobed leaves can get quite large, depending on growing conditions.


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.


Mustang grapes are easy to tell apart by their leaves from other wild grapes. The topside are dark green and smooth while the undersides are gray and fuzzy like the nose of a horse. These grapes are the first to ripen in the summer here in Texas. Their skins are thick and tough, surrounding a very tart, gelatinous interior containing several small seeds. This acidic tartness of the mustang grape skins makes them unpleasant to eat raw and can result in acid burns on your mouth and fingers. However, this acid gives them a complex flavor when made into jam/jelly or wine. When making jelly include some skins of green/unripe grapes as a source of pectin.

I love this book for wine-making recipes: 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines

Due to their fuzziness, the leaves less commonly used in grape leaf recipes, but there's no flavor or other reason not to use them.

Mustang grapes seem to prefer climbing along fences, old farm equipment, and other abandoned works of mankind in sunny fields.


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 - Texas Sabal

Scientific Name(s): Sabal mexicana
Abundance: common
What: fruit, palm heart
How: fruit raw; palm heart roasted, pickled
Where: landscaping, wild from southern to central Texas
When: summer, fall, spring
Nutritional Value:
Dangers: none

Texas sabal palm.




Texas sabal palm base.


Texas sabal palm trunk and crown.


Texas sabal palm fan-type leaves.


Fruit dark purple, .5” in diameter, thinly fleshed over a large seed, ripens in summer.

The palm heart is also eaten, but harvesting it kills the palm. Palm hearts (terminal buds) are the "root" the center-most, youngest leaf at the very top of the tree. It is harvested by cutting off the top of the tree and carving out the palm heart which kills the tree.

Leaf fibers make great 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 - Windmill

Scientific Name(s): Trachycarpus fortunei
Abundance: common
What: flower buds and flowers (inflorescences)
How: raw or cooked
Where: landscaping
When: spring
Nutritional Value:
Dangers:

Windmill palm.


Windmill palm base.


Windmill palm trunk.


Windmill palm fan-type leaf.


Native to China, this palm actually prefers cold climates and doesn't do well in hot, humid areas such as the Gulf Coast region. The leaf fibers make an excellent cordage.

The flower buds and flower bodies are eaten raw though I bet they could be candied, too.

Fruit ranges in color from yellow to black.


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.