Shagbark Hickory

Scientific name: Carya ovata
Abundance: uncommon
What: nuts
How: raw, roasted
Where: Woods, Landscaping
When: fall
Nutritional Value: Vitamin A,E,K,B6; fats, minerals
Other uses: Wood is great for tool handles

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are compound, alternating along the stem.

Leaf Shape: Compound leaves typically consist of 5 to 17 leaflets. Each leaflet can measure 3 to 8 inches in length. Leaflets are opposite, except for the single, tip leaflet.

Leaf Color: Foliage is generally green, with variations among hickory species.

Flower Structure: Inconspicuous, small greenish-yellow flowers are arranged in catkins (1"-1.5" long spikes).

Flower Size: Individual flowers are tiny, about 1/8 inch in size.

Fruit (Nut): The fruit is a hard-shelled nut enclosed in a husk. Nut size varies among hickory species but can range from 1 to 2 inches.

Bark: Bark appearance varies among hickory species, ranging from smooth to rough, with furrows and ridges. Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) bark appears as peeling, vertical strips

Height: Hickory trees can vary widely in height, from 30 to 100 feet, depending on the species.

Hairs: All parts are hairless

Wood Color: The heartwood color varies from pale to reddish-brown, depending on the hickory species.

Branching Pattern: Hickory trees typically have a straight trunk with a spreading crown.

Hickory nuts.



Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) tree.


Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) tree bark.


Top of Shagbark Hickory leaf.


Bottom of Shagbark Hickory leaf.


Flowers of Shagbark Hickory (taken March in Houston, TX).


Water hickory (Carya aquatica) nuts are too bitter to eat.


Water hickory bark (inedible hickory).


Hickory leaves. Note the compound leaf has nine or less (but always and odd number) leaflets while a pecan leaf will have 11-17 leaflets.


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.


Related to pecans and walnuts, Shagbark Hickory trees aren't nearly as common but when found the nuts are quite tasty. Only the Shagbark species of hickories are edible whereas the Water Hickory (Carya aquatica), though more common, are too bitter to eat.


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.

American Holly

Scientific Name: Ilex opaca
Abundance: common
What: leaves
How: dried then made into tea
Where: shady woods
When: spring, summer, fall, winter
Nutritional Value: flavoring
Dangers: do not consume berries

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are alternate along the stem.

Leaf Shape: Simple, evergreen leaves with a smooth, elliptical shape, typically measuring 2 to 4 inches in length. Leaves are thicker and stiffer than many other tree leaves.

Leaf Margin: Leaf margins are spiny and serrated.

Leaf Color: Foliage is glossy dark green, maintaining its color throughout the year. Underside of leaf is lighter colored than the top.

Flower Structure: Inconspicuous, small, white flowers with four petals are arranged in clusters.

Flower Size: Individual flowers are around 1/8 inch in size.

Fruit (Drupe): The fruit is a bright red drupe, around 1/4 inch in diameter, containing four nutlets.

Bark: Bark is smooth and gray on young stems, becoming grayish-brown with age.

Height: American holly can grow to be a small to medium-sized tree, reaching heights of 20 to 50 feet.

Hairs: All parts are hairless.

Branching Pattern: The branching pattern is typically dense and pyramidal, forming a compact crown.

American holly leaves and berries in winter.


Close-ups of American holly leaves. Note the lighter-colored underside.




Close-up berries. They are toxic, do not eat!


American holly trunk.


American holly 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.


The American holly can be found all over the woods of east Texas. Growing in shade to heights up to fifty feet tall, this evergreen, pointy-leafed tree are the traditional source of Christmas wreaths. The berries are somewhat toxic and should not be eaten but the dried leaves make a pleasant, slightly wintergreen-flavored tea. Let the leaves dry for at least six weeks before using for tea. waiting this long will allow the leaves' cell walls to break down some, making it easier for the flavors to seep out.


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.

Yaupon Holly

Scientific name: Ilex vomitoria
Abundance: plentiful
What: tea from leaves
How: Dry leaves, add boiling water
Where: woods
When: all year
Nutritional Value: caffeine and antioxidants
Dangers: Avoid the berries as they taste bad. Do not mistake Yaupon holly for the toxic Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense). See below to learn how to tell them apart.

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are alternate along the stem.

Leaf Shape: Simple, evergreen leaves with a smooth, elliptical shape, typically measuring 1/2 to 1 inch in length.

Leaf Margin: Leaf margins are toothed (rounded serrations).

Leaf Color: Foliage is glossy dark green on top and lighter green underneath, maintaining its color throughout the year.

Flower Structure: Inconspicuous, small, white flowers with four petals are arranged in clusters. Often surrounded by bees.

Flower Size: Individual flowers are around 1/8 inch in size.

Fruit (Drupe): The fruit is a red to black drupe, around 1/4 inch in diameter, containing four seeds.

Bark: Bark is smooth and gray with lighter gray-white mottling.

Height: Yaupon holly can grow as a large shrub or small tree, reaching heights of 15 to 25 feet.

Hairs: All parts are hairless.

Branching Pattern: The branching pattern is typically dense and upright, forming a compact crown. Multiple trunks are common.

Female Yaupon holly with berries in the fall-winter.


Female Yaupon holly in mid-summer. Male Yaupon hollies don't produce berries.


Female Yuapon holly in the late fall.


Close-up of Yaupon holly leaves.


The leaves of Yaupon holly and Chinese privet are very similar in shape and size. An easy way to tell them apart is the leaves of the Chinese privet grow in a uniform pinnate manner. The leaves of Yaupon holly have a random, chaotic growth pattern. Just remember "chaos = caffeine"! Also note that the edges of Yaupon holly leaves are bumpy whereas Chinese privet leaves have a smooth edge.


Left: yaupon holly (SAFE)
Right: Chinese privet (TOXIC)

Closer-up picture of the leaves.

Left: yaupon holly (SAFE)
Right: Chinese privet (TOXIC)

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 east Texas landowners consider the small, gray-trunked Yaupon holly trees to be an invasive species. However, they are native and their prolific nature just shows how well adapted they are to this region. If you're a bird watcher, planting one (or more!) of these in your yard will insure a steady stream of cardinals, finches, jays, and many other birds come to feast on Yaupon holly's red berries. But don't you eat the berries as they make humans throw up!

Yaupon holly leaves, however, are truly a gift. They are the only naturally occurring source of caffeine that grows in Texas. And it's not just caffeine they bring! The leaves are also loaded with antioxidants and all the other compounds that make traditional green tea good for you. On top of all that, tea made from the leaves has a slight, natural sweetness to it making it not just fantastically good for you but also wonderful tasting.

Yaupon holly leaves are an excellent source of caffeine. There are a few different ways to prepare yaupon holly leaves for brewing tea. The easiest and most effective method for freeing the caffeine is to air-dry them by cutting of a branch, hanging it indoors in a warm, dry area (not in direct sunlight) and let the leaves dry naturally. Most of the leaves will fall off the branch as they dry so lay a towel or something under it to catch the leaves. This method can take two weeks or more depending on the temperature and humidity. Slow-drying it like this allows naturally-occurring enzymes inside the plant cells to begin breaking holes through the cell wall. These holes allow the caffeine to escape into your hot water when making tea.

Forced-drying the leaves in a dehydrator or an oven set at 200F is popular. It is fast, usually taking just a day and this quick drying but will not allow as much caffeine to be released compared to slow air-drying. Leaves done this way are somewhat similar to green tea in mouth-appeal. It doesn't taste like green tea, but it has several similar "under-flavors", if that makes any sense.

The most complex, richest flavors comes from roasting the leaves in an oven set at 400F. I prefer to do this after the two week drying period. This requires some practice and experimentation. Lay the leaves on a cookie-sheet. There can be some overlap but each leaf needs some exposure to the air. Put the cookie-sheet in the oven and watch the leaves as they turn brown. Start with them being in the oven for just 4 minutes. The darker you let the leaves get the more roasted and complex flavors you will release. Warning: if they get too dark they'll have a scorched flavor.

Caffeine has recently been shown to help protect the brain from Alzheimer's disease, which is pretty dang awesome!!

Dried Yaupon holly leaves were smoked as part of assorted Native American rituals.


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.

Honey Locust

Scientific name: Gleditsia Triacanthos
Abundance: common
What: buds, flowers, young seed pods, seeds
How: raw or cooked in soups and stews, tea/drink
Where: sunny, arid land
When: Spring, summer.
Nutritional Value: sugar, protein, minerals
Other uses: extremely hot and fragrant firewood
Dangers: These can occasionally contain toxic, bitter tasting compounds. Only use sweet-tasting honey locusts.

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are alternate and compound, with each leaflet measuring 1 to 2 inches in length.

Leaf Shape: Bipinnately compound leaves with 20 to 30 leaflets arranged on each pinna.

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

Thorns: Many honey locust trees have thorns, which can vary in size but can be up to 8 inches long.

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

Flower Size: Individual flowers are very small, around 1/4 inch in size.

Pods (Seed Pods): The fruit is a flat, twisted pod (legume) that is dark brown when ripe, measuring 6 to 18 inches long. The inside of these pods contain a line of hard, dark beans each approximately 1/4" long, surrounded by an orange, sweet goo.

Bark: Bark is gray to brown, with deep furrows and ridges.

Height: Honey locust trees can grow to be 60 to 80 feet tall.

Hairs: Tiny, fine hairs may be found on undersides of leaflets and on skin of seed pods.

Honey locust spines on trunk of tree. Note how the spines have spines!




Honey locust leaf, compound in structure. Each of the ovals is a single leaflet portion of the full leaf.


Honey locust spines on branches along with flowers.


Close-ups of very young honey locust seed pods.




Close-up of honey locust spine.


Almost mature Honey Locust pods. At this point they can be collected for the taste good they contain.


Mature honey locust seed pod. Eat the yellow/orange "goo" between the hard seeds.


Size 12 foot next to fallen Honey Locust seedpods.


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.


Growing to almost 100 feet tall and living up to 120 years, Honey Locust trees are distinguished...and wicked protectors of wooded areas. Their trunks and mature branches are covered with sea urchin-like clusters of spines up to four inches long! They have a broad crown that offers lovely, dappled shade during the summer. Come fall it's compound leaves turn yellow and then drop leaving the dark gray, bumpy bark to stand stark against the winter sky.

These tall, spiky trees are often found on the edges of woods and to a lesser extent in the interior. In either case it's likely they'll be surrounded by many small honey locust saplings. The springtime flowers are beloved by bees and make an excellent honey. The young, tender pods can be cooked like green beans. The yellow/gold "goo" between the seeds inside both green and mature seedpods is sweet and tastes like honey. The hard, mature seeds can be ground into a calorie rich, gluten-free flour after removing them from the long, flat pod.


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.

Honey Mesquite

Scientific name: Prosopis glandulosa
Abundance: plentiful
What: young leaves, seed pods, seeds
How: seed pods raw, cooked; mature beans pounded into flour, made into tofu or tea. Young leaves in salad or cooked like spinach
Where: arid fields
When: late summer, early fall
Nutritional Value: carbohydrates, protein, calcium
Other uses: excellent firewood
Dangers: up to 20% of mesquite pods are infected with very dangerous aflatoxin-producing fungus. Only pick pods that are still on the tree and have not been attacked by hole-boring beetles.

Leaf Arrangement: Bipinnate compound leaves arranged alternately along the stems.

Leaf Shape: Small, elongated leaflets, measuring approximately 0.25 to 0.75 inches in length.

Leaf Color: Green to bluish-green foliage.

Leaflet Margin: Leaflets have entire margins without serrations.

Flower Structure: Small, yellow-green, inconspicuous flowers arranged in elongated spikes (racemes).

Flower Size: Individual flowers are very small, typically less than 0.2 inches.

Fruit (Pods): Long, flat, narrow, curved seed pods (legumes) measuring around 4 to 8 inches. green when immature, turning reddish-brown as they ripen.

Seed Size: Seeds within the pods are small, about 0.2 to 0.4 inches.

Bark: Bark is often rough, dark brown to gray.

Height: Mature trees can reach heights of 15 to 30 feet.

Honey mesquite tree.


Honey mesquite bark and spines.


Honey mesquite trees have compound leaves consisting of many leaflets.


Just-opened honey mesquite flowers (racemes).


More mature flowers transitioning into seedpods.


Young mesquite seed pods.


Pods almost mature.


Mature honey mesquite seed pod.


A mesquite pod picked from the ground. The hole indicates a beetle may have been infected it with dangerous aflatoxin fungus, rendering it unusable.


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.


Dotting (or perhaps creating!) the arid regions of Texas, mesquite trees are becoming nuisance thickets. Their huge demand for water sucks the land around them dry, preventing the growth of most other plants. The dense, aromatic wood has a long history of being used to add the distinctive taste to grilled foods. This wood burns extremely hot and can destroy chimneys and melt metal fire rings so be careful with it. Historical note, the underground roots of dead mesquite trees were considered to be an excellent source of firewood.

Mesquite seeds/seed pods are rich in protein, minerals, and fructose. This fructose makes them an exceptionally good food source for diabetics as the body does not use insulin to break down the fructose. The hard, shucked beans can be dried for storage and ground into a calorie-rich flour as needed. Be warned thought that these beans are extremely hard and require a very high-quality grain mill to crush them.

The dried beans can be roasted to make a tea/caffeine-free coffee substitute. Roast them for a few minutes at 400F then crush them before boiling to make the tea.

Pods that have fallen to the ground or which have bore-holes in them have up to a 20% chance of being infected by a aflatoxin-producing fungus. However, undamaged pods still on the tree are unlikely to have this problem. Most adults are quite resistant to aflatoxin effects but small children can be at risk. Very large doses of aflatoxin can eventually cause liver cancer.


Buy my book! Idiots Guide 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.