Palm - Canary Island Date

Scientific Name(s): Phoenix canariensis
Abundance: uncommon
What: fruit, flowers, sap
How: fruit raw, dried, cooked; flowers raw; sap straight, fermented, or evaporated to syrup or sugar
Where: landscaping
When: fall
Nutritional Value: calories


Canary Island date palm.




Canary Island date palm base.


Canary Island date palm trunk.


Trunk with almost-mature fruit.


Canary Island date palm crown.


Canary Island date palm needle-type leaf. Note the alternating pattern.


Almost ripe fruit.




These palms usually remain short and squat for ten years or more before growing taller to their final height of thirty to sixty feet. The leaves are long like those of the Queen palm rather than fan-shaped.

Fall is when the fruit appear on clusters of long strands. They are yellow-orange oval, 3/4" long, flesh is sweet but very thin over a large seed making it undesirable as snacking date. The preferred utilization of these dates is conversion to jelly...or wine! Woohoo!

A good palm oil can be pressed from its seeds using a nut press.

The sap is very sweet and can be drank as is, fermented into palm wine, or evaporated down to palm syrup or sugar. Traditionally it is collected by carefully carving a bowl-shaped depression in the tree's crown in the late afternoon or evening. The sap collects in this depression overnight and is gathered in the morning. If left exposed to sun and air it will quickly spoil. Please note, carving out the crown of the tree in this manner will likely result in the palm dying. There has been some luck/non-tree death with cutting the young fruit stalks (inflorescence spadix) in early summer and collecting the sap from them.



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Palm - Date

Scientific Name(s): Phoenix dactylifera
Abundance: rare
What: fruit, flowers, sap, terminal bud (palm heart)
How: fruit raw, dried, cooked; flowers raw; sap straight, fermented, or boiled down to syrup or sugar, terminal bud roasted or pickled.
Where: landscaping
When: flowers in spring, fruit in summer, sap anytime except winter
Nutritional Value: fruit - calories, vitamin C, minerals

Date palm.


Date palm base.


Date palm trunk.


Date palm crown. Needle-type leaf.


Dates from Phoenix dactylifera are considered to be the sweetest of palm fruit. Originally from the Middle East, these trees are now found along the Gulf Coast as well as California. They require a lot of water but don't do well in areas of high humidity like Houston and dates from trees in this area are usually of low quality. Trees are either male or female with the females being the only ones to produce dates after wind fertilization from a nearby male tree's pollen.

The sap is very sweet and can be drank as is, fermented into palm wine, or evaporated down to palm syrup or sugar. Traditionally it is collected by carefully carving a bowl-shaped depression in the tree's crown in the late afternoon or evening. The sap collects in this depression overnight and is gathered in the morning. If left exposed to sun and air it will quickly spoil.

Date palm flowers appear in the spring and are eaten raw. 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.


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Palm - Pindo, Jelly

Scientific Name(s): Butia capitata
Abundance: common
What: fruit
How: raw, jelly, wine
Where: landscaping, Gulf Coast region
When:
Nutritional Value:
Dangers: none


Pindo palm.

Nearly-ripe pindo palm fruit (turns yellow/gold when ripe).

Pindo palm crown and needle-type leaves.


Closeup of a pindo palm leaf. They have a gray/blue tint.

Pindo palms are short, squat trees with long, gray/blue-green fronds. Pindo palm fruit appears in the summer and is yellowish-orange, about the size of figs. They taste great but it's large, inedible seed and stringy flesh makes eating it raw a challenge. The preferred method of eating Pindo palm fruit is as jelly hence it's common name, "Jelly Palm". Pindo palm fruit naturally contains pectin but only barely enough to jellify and it is recommended that extra pectin be added. Also, the seeds must be removed before cooking the fruit down or something in them will interfere with jellification.

This fruit has also been used to make wine though if you don't destroy the natural pectin with some pectinase the wine will end up cloudy.

A good quality palm oil can be pressed from the fruit's large seed. If you don't have an oil press try grinding up the fruit in a blend then boil it. The oil will float to the top of the water and can be skimmed off once the water cools down.

These palms usually remain as short, squat trees. At one time they were a prized possession as the fruit was plentiful, delicious, and used many ways. Nowadays they are often considered to be a nuisance, messy tree. How crazy is that?!


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Palm - Queen

Scientific Name(s): Syagrus romanzoffiana
What: fruit
How: raw, jelly
Where: landscaping, Gulf Coast region
When:


Queen palm.




Queen palm base.


Queen palm trunk.




Queen palm crown. Needle-type leaves.


The orange fruit appear in late summer/early fall.


Close-up of the fruit. You can see the fibers nature in the older, brown/gray fruit.


Standing majestically, Queen palms live up to their names and so are often used as a landscaping palms. Their trunk is rather smooth and gray. Its leaves can be up to fifteen feet in length. The individual fronds are somewhat stiff. If you want to add one to your yard they prefer acidic, moist soil and are somewhat salt-tolerant if you are near the coast.

In the late summer/fall appear large clusters up to six feet long of orange, one inch fruit. The flesh of this fruit is sweet but fiberous. Just chew/suck the sweetness from the fruit and then spit out the fibers. Like the Pindo palm, these sweet fruit can also be used to make jelly or wine. A good quality palm nut oil can be extracted from the seeds though some sort of oil press is recommended for this.

The fruit is often 20' or more feet off the ground which makes harvesting tricky. Laying a tarp down beneath the tree and then either shake the tree (difficult) or toss a Nerf ball the clusters to dislodge the fruit. A Nerf ball is hard enough to dislodge the fruit but soft enough to not damage them.


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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.


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Passion Vine/Maypop

Scientific name: Passiflora incarnata
Abundance: common
What: flowers, ripe fruit, juice, leaves
How: raw, preserves, cold drink, tea
Where: sunny fields, yards, borders
When: late summer through fall until frost
Nutritional Value: Vitamin A & niacin

Medicinal Summary:
Leaves - sedative (tisane)
Flowers - anti-anxiety (tisane)

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

Leaf Shape: Leaves are typically palmately lobed and palmately veined, with usually three to five lobes, each lobe being ovate to triangular, measuring approximately 3 to 6 inches in width.

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

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

Leaf Color: The leaves are usually medium green.

Flower Structure: Purple Passionflower produces intricate and showy flowers with a unique structure. They have five petal-like sepals, five petal-like corolla segments, and a central crown of filaments and anthers. The flowers can be up to 3 inches in diameter.

Flower Color: Flowers are typically violet-purple and have white or pinkish-purple filaments.

Fruit: The fruit is an ovoid to globose berry approximately 2" in diameter with a tough outer rind. Rind is green when young then turns yellow as it ripens.

Seed: Inside the fruit are numerous small seeds suspended in clear gel.

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

Hairs: Fine hairs may be present on the stem.

Height: Passiflora incarnata can climb on other vegetation and reach varying heights.

Passion vine flower


Unripe passionvine fruit (maypop)


Inside of a passionvine fruit (maypop).


Three-lobbed passion vine leaves


Closeup of the passion vine 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.


The maypop fruit is ripe when it turns from "Kermit the Frog" green to light green to yellow-orange in color. A better indication of a ripe maypop is a somewhat wrinkly skin whereas the unripe maypop fruit will have a firm, tight feel. Upon splitting the fruit you will see numerous seeds coated in a translucent goo while the inside of the skin will have a thick layer of white pulp. Suck the goo off the seeds like you were eating a pomegranate. The white pulp inside the skin is scrapped off with a spoon and eaten. Roasted seeds of these maypops are considered to be a wonderful snack in Puerto Rico.

Wild passion vines are uncommon in Texas so refrain from harvesting many the low-nutritional value fruit unless you find a vine really covered in fruit. These vines seem to produce a lot of fruit the year after a drought.

Tea made from the dried leaves and stem of the passionvine contain alkaloids with a sedative effect on humans. This tea can be purchased over the counter as a "sleepy time" the United States. Passionvines can quickly grow to cover a large area so harvesting young leaves and stems for use in tea will help keep the vine in check. As with any medicinal tea, I don't recommend drinking it more than 2-3 cups per week. They flowers can also be used for tea but they lack the sedative effect and you also lose the fruit from that flower.


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Sandpaper Tree

Scientific Name(s): Ehretia anacua
Abundance: common
What: berries
How: raw, juiced, jelly, jam, wine
Where: sunny, borders, stream banks
When: late summer, fall
Nutritional Value: calories
Dangers: none known

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are arranged alternately on the branches.

Leaf Shape: The shape of the leaves is ovate, with dimensions ranging from 1 to 3 inches in length and 1 to 1.5 inches in width.

Leaf Venation: Pinnate, having a thick central vein with smaller veins branching off it.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margins are either entire or have a few teeth above the middle, ending in a bristle tip.

Leaf Color: The leaves exhibit a light green color on both their upper and lower surfaces.

Flower Structure: The Ehretia anacua's flowers are showy and fragrant, star-shaped with five petals, each measuring approximately 1/4 inch, and form in dense clusters at the branch tips.

Flower Color: The flowers are white in color.

Fruit: The fruit of the Ehretia anacua is a berry-like, fleshy, edible drupe, measuring 1/4 inch in diameter, and matures from yellow to orange, growing in large, fairly tight clusters.

Seed: Each fruit contains two seeds.

Bark: The bark of this tree is gray-brown or red-brown, initially scaly, and becomes irregularly furrowed over time.

Hairs: Leaves are covered in short, stiff, fine hairs giving them a sandpaper-like texture.

Height: The Ehretia anacua typically grows to a height of 15 to 45 feet.

Fruit of Sandpaper tree (aka Knockaway tree aka Anacua tree)


Fruit


Leaves


Leaves close-up


Trunk/bark


Branches


Full tree


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.

Other names for this tree are "knockaway" and "anacua". The common name of "sandpaper trees" leaves are rough and tough, allowing them to be used as a crude, natural sandpaper for smoothing wood.

The fruit is sweetish and may be rather juicy. There are historical reports of these berries being used in jelly and wine, but usually mixed with other fruit.