Prairie Parsley

Scientific Name(s): Polytaenia nuttallii
Abundance: common
What: seeds, leaves
How: seeds as seasoning; leaves cooked
Where: fields, borders, roadsides
When: winter, spring
Nutritional Value: low
Dangers: none

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

Leaf Shape: The compound leaves' leaflets are deeply and widely lobed.  

Leaf Venation: Due to the finely divided nature of the leaves, the venation is not prominently visible.

Leaf Margin: The margins of the individual leaflets are entire or slightly toothed.

Leaf Color: The leaves are a bright, vibrant green.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and clustered in compound umbels, a characteristic arrangement where multiple umbrella-like clusters are grouped together.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually yellow.

Fruit: The plant produces small, elongated, ribbed fruits typical of many members of the Apiaceae family.

Seed: The seeds are small, elongated, and contained within the ribbed fruits.

Stem: The stem is erect, ribbed, and can be slightly hairy.

Hairs: There may be fine hairs on the stem, particularly near the base.

Height: Polytaenia nuttallii typically grows to a height of 1 to 3 feet.

 

Prairie parsley plants in bloom.




Close-up of prairie parsley's 5-petaled flowers.


Praire parsley flower umbels (clusters) have a dome-shape when viewed from the side.


Close-up of prairie parsley flower buds.


Close-up of even younger flower buds.


Close-up of flowers gone to seed.


Prairie parsley stem.


Close-up of stem. It's covered with short hairs.




Prairie parsley leaves have rounded lobbed and teeth.




Close-up of prairie parsley leaves.




Mature prairie parsley leaves are compound.




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.


Perhaps in the scheme of things it is good that Prairie Parsley isn't one of the higher ranked wild edibles. It's seeds can be used as a seasoning substitute for dill or carrot seeds and it's leaves can be cooked, usually boiled, as a pot herb but in both cases the flavor isn't anything over which to get excited. In times of starvation supposedly the root was also boiled or roasted but honestly, it would have been during some pretty rough times. The flavor is...not good.

The plant itself is rather distinctive and attractive to my eyes. It's most commonly seen growing along dry ditches of country roads in late winter through early summer. However, it can also be found in fields, along the borders of woods, and even in woodland glades. The plant itself rarely gets over three feet tall and has an open structure with relatively few, widely spaced branches. This plant has a two-year lifecycle, with the first year it existing as a rosette of leaves, not putting up it's stalk until the second year. The stalk is green with purplish-reddish "ribs" running its length along with coarse hairs. Leaves are arranged in an alternating pattern lower on the plant but seem almost opposite near the tips. This leaves are compound, have three or more deeply lobed leaflets. The small, yellow flowers grow in an umbel clusters, becoming quite noticeable in late March into May. Following the flowers, numerous flat seeds appear, starting out green and then turning brown as they mature and dry.

Medicinally, tea from the seeds was used to control diarrhea. Prairie parsley leaf and root tea supposedly has some blood, kidney, and bladder cleansing/flushing properties but to my knowledge this hasn't been confirmed by western science.

Polytaenia nuttallii leaves are food source for Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars (Papilio polyxenes asterius) while bees and assorted other butterflies seek out the nectar of Prairie Parsley flowers.


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.

Pony's Foot

Scientific name: Dichondra carolinensis
Abundance: plentiful
What: leaves, stems
How: raw (good in salads)
Where: yards
When: spring, summer, fall, winter
Nutritional Value: Minerals

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves of pony's foot are arranged alternately along the stem.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are kidney-shaped to nearly circular, typically measuring about 0.5 to 1 inch across.

Leaf Venation: The venation is palmate, with several veins radiating from the leaf base.

Leaf Margin: The margins of the leaves are entire, meaning they are smooth without any serrations or lobes.

Leaf Color: The leaves are a rich green color, often with a slightly lighter shade on the underside.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and typically borne singly on slender stalks that arise from the leaf axils.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually white to greenish-white.

Fruit: The plant produces a small capsule as its fruit.

Seed: The seeds are tiny and contained within the capsule.

Stem: The stems are thin, trailing or creeping, and can root at the nodes.

Hairs: There may be fine hairs on the stems and the underside of the leaves.

Height: Dichondra carolinensis is a ground cover plant and typically grows right against the ground.

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.


Running rampant but usually unnoticed, young pony's foot is a bland green, best used to cut the bitterness of other wild greens. However, once it gets bigger than a dime it does start turning bitter itself. The leaves are connected to a stringy, tough runner. Remove them from this runner for a more enjoyable eating experience. They are pretty much available all year long, even surviving freezes. Being so plentiful, they are a very good "dilutant" for bitter greens such as dandelions, chicory, sow thistle, and wild lettuces.

Some people confuse Pony's Foot with Dollarweed (Hydrocotyle species). The leaf of dollarweed is a complete circle whereas pony's foot is cleft, giving it the shape of a horse's hoof.

Dollar weed on left, Pony's Foot on right.




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.

Prickly Ash/Toothache Tree

Scientific name(s): Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, Zanthoxylum hirsutum, and Zanthoxylum fagara
Abundance: common
What: leaves, dried fruit
How: chew a small bit of leaf to numb mouth/lips, use dried fruit Sichuan seasoning
Where: shaded woods
When: whenever leaves are present
Nutritional Value: medicinal, antioxidants
Other uses: Hit people with spiny club made from trunk
Dangers: Slightly toxic, do not swallow leaves or bark

Medicinal Summary:
Bark, Leaves, Berries - oral anesthetic (poultice)
Bark - sweat inducer (tincture)

Alternate Names: Hercules' club, tickle tongue, prickly ash, toothache tree, Sichuan pepper tree 

Leaf Arrangement: The compound leaves are alternate along the stems.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are pinnately compound, consisting of several leaflets oppositely arranged along a central stalk. Each leaflet will have a thorn at its base.

Leaf Venation: The leaflet venation is pinnate.

Leaf Margin: The leaflet margin is serrated.

Leaf Color: The leaves are typically green, and there may not be significant color variation between the upper and lower surfaces.

Flower Structure: The prickly ash produces small, greenish-yellow flowers in terminal clusters.

Flower Color: The flowers are typically greenish-yellow.

Fruit: The fruit is a small, dark red to black berry-like drupe. Husk is dimpled, starts out green then matures to brown and splits open along a single seam.

Seed: A single seed seed is contained within the drupe and are typically dark-colored.

Bark: The bark of mature Hercules' Club trees is grayish-brown and may have characteristic, randomly-placed, layered, spiny projections.

Hairs: Leaf and berry stems may have fine hairs.

Height: Trees can reach varying heights, typically up to 20 to 30 feet. Silhouette is distinctive with a bumpy trunk 3'-5' tall followed by leggy/open branches giving it candelabra-like shape.

Prickly ash (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) bark and spines.



Mature tree trunk of Zanthoxylum clava-herculis.


Compound leaf of Prickly Ash.


Note the thorns at each leaf-node as well as other random spots.


Close-up of a single leaflet.


Young berries (springtime).


Almost mature berries (mid-summer).


Ripe berries ejecting seeds. (mid-summer)


Empty seed husks. (late summer)


Seed husks in winter.


Bare tree in winter.


Young, new leaves budding in spring.


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.


Prickly Ash trees are found not just in Texas but also worldwide. Here in North America they go by names such as Hercule's Club, Tickle-Tongue tree, and Toothache tree. It's very common to see these trees along fence line because ranchers would plant them there because cattle don't like rubbing against them, so it would protect the fences. In more modern times these trees appear along fences lines thanks to seeds in bird poop.

The leaves and bark of these trees contains a fairly strong anesthetic. Native Americans would cut off one of the thorns and place it on the gum near their hurting tooth. After a few minutes that area would go numb, allowing a friend to yank the bad tooth out. Pioneers and early Texas settlers would use the leaves instead of the bark/spines. I have no idea why one people used one part and other people used a different part for the same treatment.

These trees produce a massive amount of bright red berries in the fall. In China the dried, roasted berries of similar species of Zanthoxylums are used as the main ingredient of Sichuan seasoning. Pick the ripe berries and let them dry until they split open revealing dark seeds. Remove the seeds and coarse-grind the husks for use in many Chinese recipes. The husks can also by dry-roasted in a frying pan to give a richer, somewhat smokey flavor. The numbing aspect of the berries tempers their spiciness into a unique flavor. I like mixing these ground husks with Texas hot sauces to create Texas Sichuan sauces.


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.

Prickly Lettuce

Scientific Name(s): Lactuca serriola
Abundance: common
What: young leaves, unopened flower buds
How: leaves in salad or cooked
Where: woods, fields, yards
When: spring, summer
Nutritional Value: Vitamins A, B, minerals
Dangers: excess consumption of leaves and sap can lead to stomach upset, seeds contain some varnish oils.

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

Leaf Shape: The leaves are oblong to lanceolate, with a unique feature of often having a slightly twisted or curled appearance. They typically measure about 2 to 8 inches in length and 0.5 to 2.5 inches in width.

Leaf Venation: The venation is pinnate, with a central vein and smaller veins extending towards the leaf edges.

Leaf Margin: The margins are irregularly toothed and can have small spines or prickles.

Leaf Color: The leaves are green, sometimes with a hint of blue or gray, and often have a white or light green midrib.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and borne in clusters in a branching inflorescence. Each flower is about 0.5 inches in diameter.

Flower Color: The flowers are yellow.

Fruit: The plant produces a small, beaked achene (a type of fruit).

Seed: The seeds are tiny, brown, and attached to a pappus, which helps in wind dispersal.

Stem: The stem is erect, can be branched, and grows up to 3 to 6 feet tall. It may have spines along the midrib on the underside of the leaves. Color ranges from reddish to green.

Hairs: There are no significant hairs on the leaves or stems, but the presence of spines or prickles along the rib on the underside of the rib is notable.

Height: Lactuca serriola typically reaches a height of 3 to 6 feet.

Young plant.


Mature prickly lettuce. They can actually get over six feet tall in prime growing locations.


Closeup of prickly lettuce flower buds.


Spines along main vein on bottom of 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.


Growing thick and upright in diverse places such as sidewalk cracks to the woods, young prickly lettuce leaves is a fine salad green when used in moderation, though still somewhat bitter. The spines of this plant are fairly soft and edible raw when the leaves are young. As the plant matures it increases in bitterness, becoming inedible by the time it produces flowers. The white, milky sap contains a small amount of the narcotic chemical lactucarium, which has sedative and pain-relieving powers.

I find the young, unopened flower buds to be a good, raw nibble. These unopened flower buds lack a lot of the bitterness found in other members of this family. The youngest leaves are a good addition to salads but they need to be "diluted" with less bitter greens.


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.

Prickly Pear

Scientific name: Opunita species
Abundance: plentiful
What: fruit (tunas), pads (nopalito), flowers, juice, seeds
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; seeds are eaten raw or roasted.
Where: sunny fields
When: fruit-late summer, pads-all year though younger pads taste better.
Nutritional Value: vitamin C, some minerals and omega-3 fatty acid
Dangers: The spines and tiny, fine hairs are very irritating and can even be fatal if lodged in the throat. Burn off the spines/hairs to remove.

Medicinal Summary:
Flowers - wound healer; strengthen capillaries; diuretic; controls release of sugars into bloodstream (poultice, tisane)
Pad Pulp - speeds healing of contusions, sprains, and reduces bruises & swelling; soothes minor burns; soothes gastrointestinal inflammations (poultice, tisane)

Fruit & Pads - powerful cancer preventatives

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are small, ephemeral, and quickly transform into spines, with the primary structure being the flattened stem pads.

Leaf Shape: The leaves, initially small and cylindrical, rapidly modify into spines.

Leaf Venation: Not applicable, as the leaves evolve into spines and lack typical leaf venation.

Leaf Margin: Undefined, due to the transformation of leaves into spines.

Leaf Color: Initially green, but as they turn into spines, they are not a significant feature.

Flower Structure: Flowers are solitary, growing from the edges of the stem pads.

Flower Color: Varies by species, commonly yellow, red, or purple.

Fruit: Produces a fleshy, pear-shaped fruit, often red or purple when ripe.

Seed: The seeds are small, encased within the berry-like fruit.

Stem: Characterized by flat, fleshy, and broad stem segments or pads, which are the main photosynthetic organs.

Hairs: Lacks true hairs, but spines and glochids (tiny barbed bristles) are present on the pads.

Height: Can vary widely depending on the species, typically forming a low-lying shrub but can reach up to 6 feet or more.

Prickly Pear in May



Close-up of prickly pear flower.


Unripe fruit


Ripe 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.


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.

The pads can be peeled then sliced and cooked like green beans though much slimier. Peeled pads can also be seasoned with your favorite beef/venison jerky spices 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. 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. 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.

Burning glochids off of the fruit of the similar Opunita species "Cow's Tongue" cactus.


Prickly pear seeds were part of what was called "second harvest" by certain Native American tribes. Calories were hard to come by in the Texas Hill Country so after eating the prickly pear tunas the feces would be examined and any undigested seeds were recovered to be eaten again. Personally, I prefer roasting them then adding them to other seeds to be ground into flour.

Cancer prevention: Chavez-Santoscoy RA, Gutierrez-Uribe JA, Serna-Saldívar SO. Phenolic composition, antioxidant capacity and in vitro cancer cell cytotoxicity of nine prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) juices. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2009 Jun;64(2):146-52. doi: 10.1007/s11130-009-0117-0. PMID: 19468836. 


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.