Elderberry

Scientific name: Sambucus canadensis
Abundance: common
What: flowers, berries
How: the flowers can be eaten raw or fried as fritters, the berries are best when cooked into muffins/pancakes/waffles, made into jam or wine
Where: edges, wet areas
When: summer
Nutritional Value: Vitamin A & C, calcium, iron, sterols, and flavonoids.
Dangers: all other parts of plant (bark, leaves, wood) are poisonous. Berry clusters must be flat, kind of like cauliflower, not rounded like a globe. Compounds in elderberry flowers and berries can disrupt chemotherapy drugs.

Medicinal Summary:
Flowers, Berries - immune system stimulant (syrup, tincture, tisane)

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are opposite, arranged in pairs along the stem.

Leaf Shape: Compound leaves with 5 to 11 leaflets. Each leaflet measures around 2 to 4 inches in length.

Leaf Margin: Leaflet margins are serrated with fine teeth.

Leaf Color: Foliage is typically dark green.

Flower Structure: Large, flat-topped clusters of tiny, fragrant, white flowers known as umbels.

Flower Color: Flowers are typically creamy white and bloom in late spring to early summer. The flowers have five petals, with a diameter of the individual flower being 1/4". 

Fruit (Berry-Like): The fruit is a small, dark purple to black berry, around 1/4 to 1/3 inches in diameter growing in umbel-like clusters.

Bark: Young stems are smooth and green, while older stems are gray with small, dark spots. Beneath the bark is a soft, white pith.

Height: American elderberry can grow to be 5 to 12 feet tall.

Hairs: Stems and leaves are generally smooth.

Growth Form: American elderberry has a multi-stemmed, shrub-like growth form.

Stands of elderberry can be 12'-14' tall.




Elderberries along a stream bank.


The flowers start out as small, light-green balls then open up into white/cream flowers with five petals.


The flower clusters are shaped kind of like cauliflower in an "umbel" (aka umbrella shape).


Flowers (edible).


Close-up of flowers after harvesting.




Dark purple-black fruit (edible dry or cooked, not raw).




Close-up of compound (multi-leaflets) leaves (topside).


Close-up of compound leaves (underside).


By the end of summer the leaves can become very complex.


Stem/trunk of Elderberry. The spots where from leaves growing from the stem in previous years.


Getting ready to make a batch of Grandpa's "Cure's what ails ya!" (Godzilla movie not required). Directions below.


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.


Stands of elderberry are most common along streams and other moist areas. Standing approximately 10 feet tall with compound leaves and green-to-gray, bumpy bark and white pithy interiors, elderberries are distinctive shrubs or small trees. The cauliflower-shaped clusters of white flowers appear in early spring, flowered by clusters of green and then dark purple berries. The plant will continue to produce flower clusters through the summer and berries into early fall. One has to be quick to gather the berries as birds love them!

The elderberry flowers are a good raw snack, eaten right off the tree. Other popular uses include adding the flowers to muffins, pancakes, frosting and batter-frying them into fritters. They can also be used to flavor assorted non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks.

The berries do NOT taste great raw due to the presence of a rather off-putting volatile oil. However, drying or cooking the berries drives off this chemical resulting in a really good flavor. Add the berries raw or dried berries to pancakes, muffins or other batter-style cooked goods. Elderberry jam and jelly is an old-time favorite. Of course, the most popular way to use elderberries is to make wine!

My grandfather used to make great elderberry wine. He also made a general illness preventative/cure medicine called "Cure's what ails ya!" from the flowers by filling a 1 quart canning 1/3 to 1/2 full with fresh elderberry flowers (no stems!) then adding 1 tablespoon of sugar, two shots of Triple Sec orange liquor and filling to jar almost to the top with vodka. The jar was sealed tightly then shook twice a day for 6-8 week. At that point the solids were strained out and the fluid transferred into a tightly capped bottle. I am NOT giving medical advice but two shoots of this was our family treatment when we felt an illness coming on. Western science suggests elderberry flowers and berries contain the immune-system stimulating molecule "Sambucol" which can also be bought over the counter in pharmacies for use in fighting viral infections. Please note that if you are on immune system suppresants, such as after an organ transplant or if you suffer from an auto-immune disease, you should avoid consuming elderberry products.

There are two plants people often mistake for elderberry, Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense) and Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum). Chinese Privet is slightly toxic and has simple rather than compound leaves though they are all lined up so as to look a little like the compound leaves of elderberry, but smaller and not pointed at the end. Chinese Privet fruit appears in the fall/winter in grape-like clusters of dark, purple, somewhat football-shaped berries instead of the umbels of elderberry berry clusters.

These are Pokeweed berries which are deadly. Note that they grow in a column rather than an umbrella-shape.


Chinese Privet berries and leaves. This plant is commonly mistaken for Elderberry but it is POISONOUS.




Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum) produce umbel-shaped clusters of small, white flowers that look just like elderberry flowers but as with the Chinese Privet, Arrowwood leaves reveal its true identity. Arrows leaves are simple, oppositely-opposed along its branches and have toothed edges. After the flowers pass umbel-shaped clusters of grayish-purple, football-shaped berries ending in little dried flower bits appear. These fruit are edible but tasteless.

Arrowwood flowers (edibility unknown...so don't eat them).


Arrowwood leaves (not edible).


Arrowwood berries (edible but tasteless).



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.

Ground Cherry

Scientific Name(s): Physalis species
Abundance: uncommon
What: fruit
How: raw, cooked
Where: fields, borders, woods
When: summer, fall
Nutritional Value: Vitamin A, B3, C
Dangers: unripe berries can cause stomach upset, vomiting, diarrhea

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

Leaf Shape: The leaves are variable, but they are often ovate to heart-shaped, with lengths ranging from 2 to 5 inches and widths from 1 to 3 inches.

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

Leaf Margin: The leaf margins are typically toothed or lobed, adding a serrated appearance.

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

Flower Structure: The flowers are solitary or clustered in the leaf axils. Each 5-petaled flower has a bell-shaped structure with a diameter of about 1 inch and features five distinct petals.

Flower Color: The flower color is usually yellow with a brownish core, but breeding has created other colors such as red and orange.

Fruit: The fruit is a papery husk or "physalis," which encases a small berry-like fruit.

Seed: Seeds are small, round, and numerous within the berry, with colors ranging from yellow to orange.

Stem: The stems are usually green, herbaceous, and slightly hairy.

Hairs: Hairs may be present on the stems and leaves.

Height: Ground cherry plants vary in height but typically range from 1 to 3 feet, depending on the species and growing conditions.

Top view of ground cherry (Physalis pubescens) plant.




Side/under-leaf view of ground cherry plant with unripe fruit pods.


Close-up of ground cherry flower.


Close-up of unripe ground cherries still on the plant.


Ground cherries in November in Houston, TX. Notice how long and pointy the edges of the leaves have become.


Ripe ground cherry 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.


Ground cherries are members of the nightshade family, just as are their close cousins and similar tasting tomatillos. Ground cherries straddle that fine line between fruit and vegetable, and can be used both as a somewhat sour berry in tarts and other desserts as well as to make tangy sauces, salsa, and other tomato/tomatillo type foods. My mom preferred to use them as a berry in desserts, but I never really like them served that way. I think they are better in Mexican and Italian style foods.

Ground cherries easily reseed and are effortlessly grown in gardens. They do best in dappled sunlight but not full shade. If near a steady source of water such as a pond or stream they can handle full Texas sun. Loose sandy soil works best. Once the plant begins fruiting in the summer it will continue to produce up to 300 of the small, yellow berries until frost kills the plant.

The plant usually drops the fruit pod before the fruit inside is ripe. Simply pick the pod off the ground and store it in an open container on your counter until the outer pod turns from yellow to a orangish sort of color. At that point you can remove them from the husk and use them. You can leave them in their husks/fruit pods for up to three months if stored at 50F in a mesh bag.

As part of the nightshade family, these fruit have a small amount of toxicity when unripe. If eaten before they are ready they will cause very bad stomach distress.


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.

Groundnut

Scientific Name: Apios americana
Abundance: rare
What: tubers, flowers, vine tips, seedpods
How: tubers are boiled, roasted, not raw; flowers & yound seedpods cooked; vine tips raw or cooked
Where: moist areas
When: spring, summer, fall, winter
Nutritional Value: calories, protein
Dangers: 1% of the population is allergic to groundnuts

Groundnut tubers, 1-3 years old.




Groundnut vine.


Close-up of groundnut vine tip.


Close-up of groundnut stem.


Groundnut leaf (odd-pinnate).




Close-up of unopened flowers.


Close-up of opened groundnut flowers.




Groundnut seedpod. Cook before eating.


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.


Groundnuts aka hopniss are a wonderful, potato-like tubers found in moist soils all across North America, including along many Texas streams and ponds. They like river banks, where their vines will entwine anything that will support them. These vines have a rough, hairy feel to them and range in color from reddish at the base up to pale green at the newest tips. The leave are odd-pinnate which means it's a compound leaf with and five to seven (always an odd number) leaflets off the main petiole (leafstem).The purple-white flower clusters appear in late summer and continue to appear into the fall.

The edible, slow-growing tubers can be dug any time of the year as they take up to three years to reach their full size, approximately as big as a hen's egg. The individual tubers will have their highest concentration of starch in the fall, which makes them tastiest at that time. These tubers grow in chains along the roots, once you find one you can follow the root to collect many more. An single vine can produce a dozen or more tubers, most of which will be big enough to eat.

These tubers can be prepared just like potatoes which frying being my personal favorite. They are a bit more bland as well as being a little bit fibrous than regular potatoes, but salt or other seasoning helps with the flavor. Groundnut tubers are significantly higher (up to 17% by weight) in protein than potatoes, which makes them an excellent food source.

The rest of the plant is edible but the flowers, bean-like seedpods, and vine tips aren't nearly as desirable as the tubers.

Groundnuts are easy to grow in your garden or a self-watering Earth Bucket as long as you have patience and plenty of water. I have them growing in both a wet spot in my yard and an Earth Bucket as part of my permaculture food forest.

While ground nut tubers are an amazing food, approximately 1% of the population can develop allergies to them. This allergy can hit the first time they eat the tubers or any time the sit down to a meal of them after that first time. There's no good way of telling in advance if a person might be allergic, but if someone has an extreme allergy to peanuts I would hesitate in giving them any part of the groundnut plant.


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.

Hackberry

Scientific name: Celtis spp. (occidentalis, laevigata)
Abundance: plentiful
What: berries
How: raw, dried, preserves
Where: moist, sunny areas
When: fall when berries are red, orange, or purple
Nutritional Value: calories, protein

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are alternate along the stem.

Leaf Shape: Simple, ovate leaves with serrated margins, typically measuring 2 to 4 inches in length.

Leaf Color: Foliage is typically dark green, turning yellow in the fall.

Flower Structure: Inconspicuous, small, greenish flowers are arranged in clusters.

Flower Size: Individual flowers are very small, around 1/8 inch in size and green-yellow in color.

Fruit (Drupe): The fruit is a small, rounded drupe, about 1/4 inch in diameter, typically reddish-brown when ripe.

Bark: Bark is gray to brown, with a rough texture consisting of small, flat platelets stacked one atop another.  These flat warts can grow together to make corky ridges in older trees.

Height: Common hackberry can grow to be a medium to large tree, reaching heights of 40 to 60 feet.

Hairs: Leaves have a sight roughness due to microscopic hairs

Branching Pattern: The branching pattern is irregular, and the tree may have a broad, spreading crown. Wood is weak and branches often break off in high winds.

Ripe hackberry fruit.



Unripe berries


Sugar Hackberry (Celtis laevigata) tree.


Sugar Hackberry (Celtis laevigata) tree trunk.


Another Hackberry tree.


Close-up of hackberry bark "scales/warts".


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.


Most of your ancestors owe their lives to the fruit of the hackberry tree. It is the oldest-know foraged food, going back over 600,000 years to the grave of Peking Man. Found on every continent except Antarctica, every culture that arose around hackberry trees utilized them as one of their main sources of calories...until us now. Now it is considered a "trash tree" and considered to be an annoyance. We have forgotten how it kept so many humans alive for tens of thousands of years.

The ripe fruit of hackberries are less than 1/4 inch in diameter and consist of a thin, sweet skin surrounding a large, hard seed. This edible seed is rich in protein and fats, but is extremely hard. Trying to crush the seed with your teeth can easily result in a broken tooth. You are better off crushing up the berries in a mortar & pestle to make a sweet, energizing paste. This paste can be toasted into a bar, making it nature's original "power bar". The seeds can also be crushed/blended with water, left over night and then strained to make "hackberry milk" which is similar to "almond milk". If you don't have a way to crush the seeds then just eat the skin/flesh off then spit out the seed. These berries ripen in the fall but will often remain on the trees and edible well into spring.

The wood of the hackberry tree is weak and brittle. It does not make good firewood, carving material or lumber. However, it did make acceptable archery bows. After a storm the ground beneath hackberry tree is usually littered with broken branches, making a mess. They can grow up to 80' tall in moist, sunny locations such as along lakes, ponds, or streams. Hackberries also seem to thrive in urban environments though they only live 20-30 years. Their gray bark is usually covered with lumpy, scaly wart-type growths that are made of layered sections.


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.