Agarita

Scientific Name(s): Mahonia trifoliolata
Abundance: common
What: Berries
How: raw, cooked, jam, jelly, wine, syrup, roast seeds for coffee
Where: Hill Country, dry grasslands
When: Spring
Nutritional Value: Vit. C

Medicinal Summary:
Leaves - anti-nausea (tisane, tincture, chewed)
Root/Wood - antimicrobial; antiviral; antidiarrheal (tisane, tincture, oxymel)

Agarita shrub.

Agarita flower buds (picture taken in February in the Hill Country).

Open agarita flowers (picture taken in February in the Hill Country).

Closeup of ripe and almost ripe agarita berries.

Closeup of agarita leaf.

The inner wood of agaritas is a deep yellow color due to the medicinal compound berberine.

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.

The evergreen agarita is a common 2’-6’ shrub found across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Its unusual, three-part leaves are grey-green, very stiff and pointy so harvesting their fruit can be a bit painful. The yellow flowers appear in late winter followed by red, edible fruit in the spring. Agaritas prefer dry areas with well-drained and somewhat alkaline soil along with full sun to partial shade. The shrubs usually gather around mesquite and other small trees. I haven't seen any out standing alone.

In Spring agarita shrubs are loaded with small, bright red berries. These sweet, slightly tart berries can be eaten raw or cooked in any manner one would prepare any berry such as jam, jelly, or wine. The juice from these berries has a pleasingly complex sweet and sour flavor. The small seeds can be roasted then ground for a caffeine-free coffee substitute.

Agaritas have multiple medicinal uses. The leaves can be chewed fresh or dried to help relieve nausea, especial that accompanying hangovers and motion sickness. A tea made from dried leaves will also offer relief. The yellow wood of the roots contain anti-bacterial and anti-viral compound berberine along with bitter components to help with digestion and other stomach issues such as diarrhea. The root wood is usually finely shaved and then made into a tincture with vodka.

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.

Barbados Cherry

Scientific Name(s): Malpighia glabra and other Malpighia species
Abundance: common
What: flowers, berries
How: flowers raw or tea; fruit raw, jelly, jam, wine
Where: landscaping
When: spring, summer, fall, winter
Nutritional Value: vitamin C
Dangers:

Barbados cherry shrub. Under ideal conditions they can get 8' tall and 5' across.


Barbados cherry fruit.






Close-ups of the Barbados cherry flowers.




Barbados cherry leaf.




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.


Barbados cherries originally come from the Caribbean. When it was discovered a single berry contains the daily recommended dose of vitamin C it was quickly adopted by navies to help against scurvy and so planted in many places. The plant doesn't handle cold well, though it does fine in normal Southern winters if only a few hard frosts occur. They are evergreen, which increases their appeal in landscapes.

The flowers can be eaten raw or used to make tea. However, it is best to leave the flowers alone so as to maximize fruit production.
The fruit starts appearing in May and will continue to appear waves through the winter if the weather is mild. These berries range in flavor from somewhat sweet to very acidic, with the higher acid content also having the higher vitamin C. Eat the berries raw if they aren't too sour/acidic, otherwise use them in jelly, jam, juice or wine.

Many plant nurseries have Barbados cherries for sale. Plant in sunny, well-drained soil but do keep them watered. A layer of mulch will help prevent the roots from drying out. Single plants will produce berries but the fruit production will be much higher if two or more Barbados cherries of different varieties are planted within 4-16 feet of each other for cross-pollination.


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.

Chile Pequin

Scientific Name(s): Capsium annuum
Abundance: uncommon
What: fruit
How: raw, dried, roasted
Where: borders
When: summer, fall
Nutritional Value: assorted beneficial chemicals
Dangers: HOT!!!

Medicinal Summary:
Fruit - antifungal; increases blood circulation, soothes muscle and nerve pain (tincture, infused vinegar, liniment, salve)

Chile pequin bushes are medium-sized, averaging about two feet high and three feet across.


Close-up of Chile Pequin bush.


Chile Pequin fruit starts out green and turns red.


Close-up of Chile Pequin fruit. Note the small size of both the fruit and the leaves.






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.


The tiny chile pequin peppers are some of the hottest known (Scoville rating 100,000 - 400,000) and add a wonderfully fierce fire and delicious, smoky flavor to dishes. They are hottest when they are young and green then lose a small amount of fire when they turn red but are still extremely hot. Use them any way you would a commercial hot pepper including sauces, salsas, or to add a "bite" to assorted pickled veggies or eggs. Dried, ground-up chile pequins are a common sight on the table of many older Texas families.

The peppers appear after the tiny white flower dry and drop off the plant. These bushes can not handle full Texas sun but usually grow best in the partial shade of some larger plant. They do need regular watering otherwise they'll drop their leaves if they get too dry. The bushes may be knocked back by frosts but will return if the roots survived. Mulch the plants in the fall to help protect the roots from the cold. If several mild winters pass in a row chile pequins can actually achieve the size of a small tree!

Growing chile pequins from seeds isn't easy as they evolved to pass through a bird's stomach where the acid weakens the seed's tough coat. You can mimic this acidizing by soaking the seeds in battery acid or pool-cleaning acid for 1-3 minutes followed by rinsing then planting. Generally handling the battery acid is a risky thing so if you try this make sure you are wearing safety googles, protective gloves, and old clothing. Also please dispose of the acid properly.


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.

Horse Crippler Cactus

Scientific Name(s): Echinocactus texensis
Abundance: uncommon
What: flowers, fruit
How: raw, cooked
Where: sunny fields, dry areas
When: fall, winter
Nutritional Value: calories, vitamin C
Dangers: beware of thorns!

Top view of Horse Crippler with fruit.


Side view of Horse Crippler with fruit.




Close-up of fruit.


Close-ups of thorns.




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.


Hiding low in the grasslands of the southwestern counties of Texas as well as randomly in other arid prairie locations, Horse Crippler Cactus is a boobytrap waiting to puncture the foot of the unwary. This low, dome-shaped cactus grows only 1-2 inches tall but up to a foot across with a lifespan measure in centuries! These cacti are covered with clusters of seven or so wicked thorns, one of which will be 2-3 inches long while the others will only be about 1 inch in length. Most of the thorns will have a slight downward curve. Horse Cripple Cacti can bloom in spring through summer and these flowers have red centers surrounded by duo-toned, pink or light purple petals which open during the day but close up at night.

The ripe, red fruit looks very similar to the "tunas" of prickly pears and are used the same way. The flavor of these fruit is more subtle than that of prickly pears but still delicious. Due to the numerous seeds, I prefer squeezing the juice from these fruit then boiling it down into a syrup. The seeds can be collected from the fruit, roasted, then boiled into porridge or ground into a gluten-free flour.

Horse Crippler Cactus transplant easily into WELL drained pots and will love the hottest, direct sunlight Texas has to offer. They love the south or west-facing, wind-swept balconies of apartments where any other plant would shrivel up and die.


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.

Cow's Tongue Cactus

Scientific Name(s): Opuntia engelmannii var. linguiformis
Abundance: uncommon
What: pads, flowers, fruit
How: peeled pads can be pickled, fried, made into jerky; fruit can be raw or blended into a smoothy/icee drink; juice from strained fruit can be drunk, made into ice cream, mixed drinks, preserves.
Where: sunny fields, landscaping
When: fruit in fall, pads-all year though younger pads taste better.
Nutritional Value: vitamin C, some minerals
Dangers: burn or scrap off the tiny needles (glochids) before eating, 1% of population is allergic to cactus-based foods.

Cow's tongue cactus used in landscaping.


Cow's tongue cactus fruit (picture taken in mid September in Houston).


Another closeup of cow's tongue fruit (also taken in mid-September in Houston).


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


Closely related to prickly pears, cow's tongue cacti pads and fruit can be used in the same manner as other Opuntia species. The pads can be peeled then sliced and cooked like green beans though much slimier. The peeled pads can also be sprinkled with your favorite beef/venison jerky spices and then dehydrated into "vegan jerky".

The fruits are usually mashed, boiled, and then strained through a fine mesh such as cheesecloth to release their delicious juice. This juice can be drank straight, made into jelly or wine, or slightly sweetened (it's already quite sweet) then boiled down to make a syrup.

Before doing anything with the pads or fruit you must remove their tiny, almost invisible needles called glochids. Use a barbecue tongs to harvest the pads/fruit and then burn off the glochids with a torch or gas stovetop.

Burning glochids.


Peel the fruit then mash it up in a saucepan. Add just enough water so as to cover the pulp then boil for about ten minutes. Let the resulting juice cool a little then filter out the pulp and seeds through cheesecloth or other fine filter.

Peeled fruit before mashing and boiling.


Straining the juice.



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.

Cholla Pencil Cactus

Scientific Name(s): Cylindropuntia leptocaulis
Abundance: common
What: fruit
How: raw, jam, jelly, wine
Where: arid, sunny, shade, borders, fields
When: winter
Nutritional Value: calories
Dangers: tiny spines (glochids) can cause a lot of pain and discomfort if not removed from fruit before eating.

Cholla cactus aka Christmas cactus aka pencil cactus with fruit in January.


New, green stems of the cactus grow off its fruit.




Close-up of cholla cactus 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.



Cholla Pencil cactus first appear in the drier areas of east Texas and becomes more and more common as you head west. This cactus is easily recognized by it's long, thin, multi-branched stems intersected by small, red, thorny, tasty fruit. Other names for it include "Tasajillo" and "Christmas Cactus". The red fruit starts appearing in late summer and hangs around through mid-winter. When intertwined with a tree or other support, they can grow almost six feet tall. Their small (1/2") yellow to slightly greenish flowers open in the afternoon and then close by sunset. Look for it in sunny fields, especially along fence lines and other borders. Unlike the fruit of most plants, Cylindropuntia leptocaulis fruits sprout multiple, new stems in late winter/early spring which make collecting these small treats somewhat difficult and time-consuming. Add to that their many thorns and tiny glochids and you have food that really takes some effort to harvest.

This is another plant that requires a thick, leather glove and a sharp knife to harvest. These fruit are too small to use the burning technique to remove their spines/glochids like I do with Opuntia cactus tunas. Carefully trim away the section of skin containing the thorns, then they're ready to eat. I suppose one could juice them or use them to make jelly, jam, or wine but honestly, even though they taste great I'm just to lazy to put in the effort required to harvest more than a quick snack's worth.


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.