Blackberry

Scientific name: Rubus spp.
Abundance: plentiful
What: flowers, berries
How: open mouth, insert flower/fruit, then chew
Where: Sunny wastelands, borders between woods and fields, blackberry plants grow as tall, vertical canes.
When: Spring
Nutritional Value: Vitamins K, E & C, folate, magnesium, manganese, potassium, copper, calories from sugar
Other uses: wine, jelly, tea
Dangers: sharp thorns

Medicinal Summary:
Root/Leaves - anti-diarrheal, soothes gastrointestinal inflammations, soothes skin inflammations (tisane)

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

Leaf Shape: The leaves are typically compound and consist of three to five leaflets. Each leaflet is generally oval in shape, pointed at the tips, with a length of 2 to 4 inches and a width of 1 to 2 inches.

Leaf Venation: The venation of the leaflets is pinnate, with prominent veins running from the central midrib to the edges.

Leaf Margin: The leaflets usually have serrated or toothed margins, which can be sharp.

Leaf Color: The upper side of the leaves is dark green, while the underside may be a slightly lighter shade of green.

Flower Structure: Blackberry flowers are typically composed of five distinct petals arranged in a radial pattern. They are located in clusters at the tips of the stems.

Flower Color: The flowers can be white or pinkish-white.

Fruit: The fruit of the blackberry is an aggregate of small drupelets, forming a cluster. Each drupelet contains a seed.

Seed: The seeds are small, typically around 0.1 inches in length, and have a dark color.

Stem: The stems are long, stiff, arching canes that are often covered in fine prickles or thorns. Older stems have a square/angular shape rather than being round, with a cross section of approximately 1/4".

Hairs: The stems and leaves may have fine hairs, especially when they are young, contributing to a slightly rough texture.

Height: Blackberry plants can vary in height, but they typically grow to a height of 3 to 10 feet, with arching canes that can reach the ground and root at the tips.

Blackberry flowers


Close-up of Blackberry flowers.


Close-up of unripe Blackberries.


Blackberries in various stages of ripeness.




A thick Blackberry cane.


Close-up of the tip leaves of a Blackberry cane. Dried, they make excellent tea.

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.


Blackberry brambles seem to line every roadside, abandoned wasteland, field edge and stream bank in East, Central, and Gulf Coast region of Texas. Other Texas regions also have them if enough water is present. The thorny blackberry canes makes passing through these plants a painful experience. Even the petioles of the leaves can have these spines. The canes begin producing new leaves in late winter, followed by many white flowers in March-April. The appearance of these flowers in Houston tell me it's time to do my taxes! The berries appear 6-10 weeks after the flowers. By mid-summer the blackberry canes will be brown and dried, seemingly dead though if the summer is mild the'll last into the fall.

A delicious tea can be made from blackberry flowers and/or its young leaves. I recommend using the leaves rather than flowers so as to not reduce the amount of fruit produced. For tea, pick young healthy leaves in late morning after any dew has dried but before the sun has had a chance to evaporate the volatile flavoring oils out of the leaves. Dry the leaves before use for a richer flavor. Keep the pot or mug covered so the volatile flavors stay in the tea rather than float out into your kitchen. The combination of blackberry and Yaupon holly leaves makes a most excellent and vitamin-rich tea rich.

The more sun and water the berries get the bigger and sweeter they will be. In dry or cloudy years or if growing in shady areas the berries will be small and tart. Blackberries will be at maximum ripeness when they are swollen and flat black. Shine black fruit are not quiet ripe yet and so won’t be at their maximum sweetness. These berries are fantastic raw, made into jelly, jam, or wine, boiled down into a syrup, made into cobbler or mixed into ice cream. Seriously, any dessert you have in mind can be made with blackberries!

An individual cane will only bear fruit in its second year. Once you've harvested the cane’s berries cut and dispose of the cane to make next year’s berry harvest easier. Beware of snakes and fire ant mounds hidden by the thick brambles as you pick the berries.

The technical name for this type of plant structure is a "cane" but I put it under "Vine" to make it easier to find by beginners.


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.

Box Elder

Scientific Name: Acer negundo
Abundance: common
What: sap, seeds, young sprout, inner bark
How: sap is boiled to syrup; young sprouts raw or cooked; inner bark boiled; seeds are roasted
Where: lowland & moist areas; often along water; windbreaks
When: spring, summer, fall, winter
Nutritional Value: carbohydrates, protein, fiber
Dangers: none, though young seedlings may look like Poison Ivy

Medicinal Summary:
Inner Bark - vomit inducer

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are opposite-alternating, meaning they are arranged in pairs along the stems but each pair is shifted 90 degrees from the pairs above and below it.

Leaf Shape: Leaves are compound, typically with three to seven leaflets, each leaflet measuring 2 to 4 inches in length.

Leaf Venation: The leaflets have prominent veins.

Leaf Margin: Leaflet margins are serrated, featuring small teeth.

Flower Structure: Box elder trees produce small, inconspicuous flowers in clusters, typically appearing in early spring.

Flower Color: Flowers are typically yellowish-green.

Seed: The seeds are paired, winged samaras, each measuring about 1 to 2 inches in length.

Bark: The bark is smooth and light gray on younger trees, becoming rougher with age, displaying furrows and ridges.

Height: Box elder trees can grow to be 30 to 50 feet tall.

Hairs: None on leaves or other surfaces.

Color of Seeds: The seeds, or samaras, start green when young and then mature to a light brown with a papery wing.

A young Box Elder tree.


Close-up of young Box Elder bark. When mature the ridges and furrows will be much larger and craggier.


Unripe Box Elder "helicopters". The seeds will be opposite the "fin". They'll be twice this size, dry, and tan when ripe.


Mature seeds.


Box Elder compound leaf (top). They have five leaflets.


Box Elder compound leaf (bottom). The top section may look tri-lobed in this picture but it is three separate leaflets.


The trunk of a Box Elder sapling. Note the rich, green color.


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.


A large part of my childhood was spent up among the branches of the giant Box Elder tree in our backyard. Well, it seemed like a giant tree when I was a kid. These amazingly fast-growing trees max out around 70 feet tall and 30 feet wide. The wood is weak and any big winds will cause branches to drop including those greater than one foot in diameter. Never park under a Box Elder in a storm! These damaged areas quickly lead to the inner heartwood rotting away, making it popular with assorted birds, mammals, and bugs. They do not handle the full Texas sun well, preferring to grow in the partial shade of other trees. They fairly common in East Texas, much less common in the Hill Country and North Texas, and rare to non-existent in West Texas

Box Elders have thick, coarse bark when mature and compound leaves. Both these features hide the fact that they are in the maple (Acer) family. Being maples, they can be tapped for sugary sap in the late winter. Complete directions for tapping maples for syrup can be found here: Making Maple Syrup & Sugar.

Come the warmth of spring, many Box Elder seedlings will sprout up. These are tasty treats to deer, rabbits, and humans! Get them when they are still tender and under eight inches tall. It will have a green, smooth bark and three-part leaves. Actually, the young seedlings look a bit like Poison Ivy to the untrained eye so make sure you know what you are eating. The first set of side leaves of Box Elder are symmetrical whereas Poison Ivy side leaves are asymmetrical with "thumbs" pointing away from the center leaf. The second set of Box Elder leaves will have asymmetrical "thumbs", similar to Poison Ivy.

The inner bark of these trees, like other maples, are edible and contain a fair amount of carbohydrates. Finely chop this inner bark then boil it. Be sure to drink the water to get all the calories. This boiled bark will be a bit sweeter than most other non-maple barks but a flavoring agent will help improve its taste. This inner bark is available all year long though its sugar-content will be highest in the later winter when the sap is flowing.

Box Elder seeds are, in my opinion, the best part of the tree. They grow in "helicopter" shells with two joined together at the stem. Come fall, the ripe shells will break apart and fall spinning to the ground. This fluttering motion will send them a small distance from the mother tree. Treat these seeds like pumpkin seeds except they must be freed from their helicopter shell before boiling them for ten minutes in salt water then salting and roasting them at 400F for 10-20 minutes. Cooking time depends on how crisp you want the final product.


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.

Cattails

Scientific name: Typha latifolia
Abundance: common
What: Tubers, shoots, male portion of flower, pollen
How: Tuber starch granules are removed by hand from fibers, young shoots cut from tubers, older stems can be peeled back to get soft, white edible pith, male (top) part of flower steamed before it become fluffy, pollen from male section is shaken into paper bag from flower and use as flour
Where: Shallow water
When: Tubers in winter, shoots in spring/summer, pollen and flowers in spring
Nutritional Value: Young shoots have low amounts of minerals. Pollen is high in protein. Tubers are high in calcium, iron, potassium, and carbohydrates.
Other uses: Fluff is good tinder and insulation, leaves can be woven into baskets and used to thatch huts.
Dangers: Fluff may cause skin irritation. Wash thoroughly before eating parts raw so as to avoid picking up any infectious, water-borne microbes.

Leaf Arrangement: Arranged in a basal rosette, with leaves emerging from the base underwater.

Leaf Shape: Linear blades, measuring 0.6 to 0.8 inches wide and ranging from 3 to 6 feet in length. Interior is made of hollow tubes running the long length of the leaf.

Leaf Venation: Features parallel venation with multiple veins running the length from base to tip.

Leaf Margin: Margins are entire, indicating they are smooth and uninterrupted along the edges.

Leaf Color: Displays vibrant green during the growing season, transitioning to brownish in the fall.

Flower Structure: Comprises a dense, cylindrical spike with male flowers at the top and female flowers below; spikes measure 4 to 8 inches in length and about 1 inch in diameter.

Flower Color: Male flowers exhibit a yellowish-brown hue, and female flowers are greenish-brown.

Fruit: Small, dry, one-seeded fruits (achenes) attached to a fluffy mass called a pappus..

Seed: Tiny, numerous, and attached to fluffy hairs for wind dispersal, each seed measures around 0.04 inches.

Stem: Stiff, erect, cylindrical, and capable of reaching 3 to 10 feet in height but generally doesn't rise much higher than the leaves. In late summer through winter the stem ends in the cattail "corndog".

Hairs: Absent on both leaves and stems.

Height: Can achieve an overall height of 4-6 feet above the top of the water.

Bullrushes/cattails






Close-up of cattail bases.


Cattail rhizome and new shoot at its tip.




Cattail tip, best cooked like asparagus.


Grilling up some cattail rhizome along with brats.


Peel off the outer, charred skin to chew up the starchy core.


A tender shoot.




Flowers (brown top is male portion, green part below male is female section)


Pollen coming from the male portion of the cattail flowerhead.


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.

This map is very incomplete.

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


Cattails are one of the most talked about wild foods to the point of even being called the "grocery store of the wild". Everything about them is edible at some point or another, usually when the particular part first appears.

Working through the seasons, in wintertime (as well as the rest of the year) the thick rhizomes
are roasted or baked then peeled. The white, stringy center mass is then chewed to get the cooked starch they contain. They have a Grahame cracker like flavor but spit out the stringy fibers once all the flavor is gone. The easiest way to cook these rhizomes is by tossing them on hot coals and occasionally flipping it until the outer surface begins to char and blacken.

In early spring the rhizome tips turn upwards and grow as new plants. These shoots are collected and treated like asparagus. I strongly recommend cooking the shoots to avoid getting sick due to water-borne microbes. The white, tubular shoots, before they open up into separate leaves are best. The white core is the best, peel off any green leaves to get to the yummy center.

In late spring the plants have matured enough to produce their flowers. These primitive plants produce separate male and female flowers with the male flowers lining the top portion of the stalk and the female flowers directly underneath. Clip off the male flowers and treat them like tiny ears of corn, being a good addition to food either raw or cooked.

Cattail pollen is produced in amazing quantities in late spring after the flowers mature. This pollen is a ready-to-use flour substitute and can be collected by shaking the flowers in a bag or other container to collect it.

During the summer months you are limited to cattail rhizomes as described earlier. Occasionally you may find a young, out-of-season, edible shoot. At this time the tops develop their fluffy seedbeds. This fluff, when dry, makes a good tinder for starting fires. It can be used as an insulation but it actually has tiny needles which will irritate your skin. A protective layer of fabric needs to be between you and the insulating fluff otherwise you'll develop a rash.

In the fall when all the above-water portions of the cattails turn brown the rhizomes will be at their thickest and most starch-filled growth. They'll remain this way until the stored starch is required to build new plant matter in the spring.


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.

Carolina Geranium

Scientific Name(s): Geranium carolinianum
Abundance: common
What: roots
How: medicinal
Where: yards, fields
When: winter, spring
Nutritional Value: none (not edible)
Dangers: Carolina geraniums are NOT edible but are only used externally medicinally in wounds and gargles, do not swallow.

Medicinal Summary:
Root - astringent; antibacterial; anti-fungal; soothes sore throat/mouth; anti-diarrheal (poultice, powder, tisane)
Whole plant - pain reliever, fever reducer, anti-inflammatory (tisane, tincture)

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves of Geranium carolinianum are arranged in a basal rosette. This means the leaves primarily grow at the base of the plant, close to the ground.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are deeply lobed, giving them a somewhat cut or dissected appearance. Each leaf typically has 5 to 7 lobes.

Venation: The venation is palmate, meaning the veins radiate outward from a single point like the fingers on a hand.

Leaf Margin: The margins of the leaves are crenate, meaning they have rounded teeth.

Leaf Color: The leaves are generally green, but they may have a hint of red or purple, especially in cooler temperatures.

Flower Structure: The flowers have five petals and are arranged in loose clusters. Each petal has a small, rounded notch at the tip. Individual flowers are about 1/5" across.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually light purple to pink, sometimes with darker veins.

Fruits: The fruit is a beaked capsule, which when mature, splits open to release seeds. The 'beak' of the capsule resembles a crane's bill, hence the common name 'Cranesbill.'

Seeds: The seeds are small, oblong, and generally have a reticulated surface.

Stems: The stems are erect to ascending, and can be hairy. They are typically green, but like the leaves, may have reddish to purplish tinges.

Plant Height: This plant usually grows to a height of about 10 to 18 inches.

Hairs: The stems and sometimes the leaves are covered in small hairs, which can give the plant a slightly fuzzy appearance.

Carolina geranium seedling in December.


Getting bigger. Note the lobed leaves with rounded teeth, and how the stems are hairy.


Mature Carolina geraniums can spread over 24 inches across.


Close-up of leaves.


Carolina geranium flowers have five petals, each with a rounded notch at the tip.


Close-up of Carolina geranium seed pods.


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.


Many a yard, flowerbed and garden see this low, creeping weed show up in the Texas "winter". Left unpacked, it'll turn into a leggy, small bush around one foot tall and two feet across. The leaves are deeply lobed with rounded, toothed edges. Stems are hairy. The pink flowers eventually turn into a long, pointed seedpod thingy. The plant grows outwards from a single taproot and that taproot is the medicinal part that you'll want. The bigger the aboveground plant the bigger this root so put off harvesting it as long as possible.

The root of Carolina geranium is very astringent which makes it excellent for stopping bleeding. Astringent compounds cause capillaries to constrict, thereby shutting down minor bleeding. If you're spraying arterial blood or have a deep slash through several medium-to-large veins you're out of luck. Think nosebleed level of bleeding or smaller. These astringent molecules will also give some relief to a sore throat if gargled but don't swallow the decoction made from the root. After a minute of swishing/gargling spit it out.

Too use this root, simply pull it out of the ground and rub/rip away the small, side roots from the main taproot. You can use it fresh if you chop it up really finely then boil 1-2 teaspoons full in 1 cup water for ten minutes. My lawyer says I need to remind people to let this solution cool before using. Native Americans would dry the root, grind it into a fine powder, then sprinkle this powder into wounds to stop bleeding. Personally, I've never tried this powdered root method but hey, it might be good to know when the zombies come.

Two mimics of this plant are the poisonous Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) and edible Carolina Bristle Mallow (Modiola caroliniana).

Poisonous mimic Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens).


You can see the leaves of the creeping buttercup are much less deeply lobed, shinier, and smoother. The stems are smooth and the entire plant hugs the ground more closely than Carolina geraniums. Creeping buttercups contain a chemical that, when consumed, makes mammals hypersensitive to sunlight. Skin hit by sunlight almost immediately starts to blister...basically, creeping buttercups turn you into a redhead!

Edible Carolina Bristle Mallow (Modiola caroliniana).


Carolina bristle mallow has very coarse leaves and stems. It creeps along the ground and puts down roots wherever the stem touches the ground. It is used to make a cooling tea.


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.

Cat's Ear

Scientific name: Hypochaeris radicata
Abundance: common
What:  young leaves and shoots, roots
How:  raw or cooked, roots roasted for coffee
Where:   disturbed areas, yards, sunny fields
When:   winter/spring/fall
Nutritional Value: minerals and antioxidants

Medicinal Summary:
Leaves/Root - sedative, muscle relaxant (tisane, tincture)

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves of Hypochaeris radicata form a basal rosette, which means they grow in a circular arrangement at the base of the plant, close to the ground.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are generally oblong or lanceolate, often with lobes that can be irregular/asymmetrical.

Venation: The venation is pinnate, where a central vein runs along the length of the leaf with smaller veins branching off to the sides.

Leaf Margin: The margins of the leaves are usually toothed or slightly lobed, giving them a serrated appearance.

Leaf Color: The color of the leaves is typically a medium to dark green, sometimes with a hint of red or purple along the veins or edges.

Flower Structure: Hypochaeris radicata produces flower heads at the ends of slender stalks. Each flower head is composed of many small yellow ray and disk florets, resembling a dandelion flower.

Flower Color: The flowers are bright yellow.

Fruits: The fruit is a small, dry, one-seeded achene that is brownish and ridged, often with a tuft of fine hairs (pappus) at the top, aiding in wind dispersal.

Seeds: The seeds are small and oblong, with a pappus (feathery umbrella) that facilitates wind dispersal.

Stems: The flowering stems are erect, hollow, and branched, often reaching heights of 10 to 20 inches. They are typically green and may have fine hairs. Stems branch multiple times.

Hairs: The edges and undersides of leaves have fine hairs, as do the stems.

Plant Height: The plant usually grows to a height of about 12 to 24 inches.

Cluster of Cat's Ear plants (mowed).


Cluster of Cat's Ears (never mowed).


Young Cat's Ear rosette, before flower stalks appear.


Close-up of topside of leaf.


Close-up of bottom side of leaf.


Close-up of flower bud and stalk.


Close-up of flower.


Close-up of seeded.


A single plant from root to flower.


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


Cat's ear is often mistaken for a dandelion, which it resembles. However, the leaves of cat's ears are less sharply toothed and more asymmetrical than dandelions, as well as having hairs on the top and bottom of the leaf whereas dandelions are hairless. Cat's ears will produce multiple flowers of one main, non-hollow stalk while dandelions produce only one flower per stalk and the dandelion stalk is hollow.

Cat's ear leaves and roots can be used in the same manner as dandelions. The leaves are a bit less bitter than dandelions, making them a good "dilutant" of the bitterness of dandelions, sow thistle, chicory, or other bitter greens. After the cat's ear flowers appear the leaves become somewhat stringy and tough, but tenderize with steaming or boiling.

Cat's ear roots are smaller than dandelion roots, but larger ones can still be steamed then eaten. These roots make an inferior coffee substitute after roasting, but will still work in that manner. Dig up the roots, scrub them clean, roast them in an oven at 425F to the dark color you prefer, coarsely grind them, then using them as regular coffee grounds. The result will be "coffee" in that it will be a dark, somewhat bitter drink.

Cat's Ears have an interesting adaption to urban lawns. After being mowed a few times their leaves and flower stems stop growing upwards and start growing flat against the ground. These two forms are shown in the first photographs of this post.



Edible Dandelion Mimics:
Dandelion
Cat's Ear
Chicory
Japanese Hawkweed
Salsify
Sow Thistle
Texas Dandelion
Wild Lettuce


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.