Plum - Chickasaw

Scientific Name(s): Prunus angustifolia
Abundance: common
What: fruit; pit
How: fruit raw, jelly/jam, or wine; pit ground and dried, then boiled
Where: sunny fields
When: early summer
Nutritional Value: calories, flavonoids
Dangers: none

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

Leaf Shape: The leaves are lanceolate, being long and narrow with pointed tips.

Leaf Venation: Leaves exhibit pinnate venation, with prominent, straight veins extending from the midrib.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is serrated, featuring fine teeth along the edges.

Leaf Color: The upper side of the leaves is green, while the underside may have a paler hue.

Flower Structure: The flowers are simple, with a diameter of approximately 1 inch, featuring five white petals.

Flower Color: The flowers are predominantly white.

Fruit: The fruit is a drupe approximately 1" in diameter, initially green and turning yellow to red as it matures.

Seed: A single stone pit is contained within the drupe, typically small, oval, and brown in color.

Bark: The bark of young stems is smooth and purple-brown, becoming more textured with age. 1" thorns are found along branches.

Hairs: None present.

Height: Chickasaw Plum typically reaches a height of 12 to 20 feet.

Ripe and unripe Chickasaw Plums.




Ripe Chickasaw Plums.


Chickasaw plum thicket.


Close-up of branch.


Close-up of Chickasaw plum thorn.


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.


Forming thickets of large bushes/small trees across Texas, Chickasaw Plums are by far sweeter than Mexican Plums. They are covered with white flowers in the mid-to-late winter and the fruit is ready to pick by the beginning of June.

Small but very sweet, these plums can be eaten raw, made into preserves, or even fermented into wine. The pits contain a small amount of cyanide but Native Americans would grind the pits then allow them to sit for a few days. During this time naturally occurring enzymes would break down the cyanide. The ground pit material would then be boiled as a porridge or perhaps used as a seasoning.


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.

Plum - Wild

Scientific name: Prunus mexicana
Abundance: plentiful
What: ripe fruit
How: raw, dried, preserves, wine, brandy
Where: Usually along edges of woods
When: fall
Nutritional Value: high in carbohydrates, vitamin A, and minerals

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

Leaf Shape: Mexican Plum leaves are ovate, being broad and rounded with a pointed apex.

Leaf Venation: Leaves exhibit pinnate venation, featuring prominent, arching veins.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is serrated, with fine teeth along the edges.

Leaf Color: The upper side of the leaves is green, while the underside may have a lighter color.

Flower Structure: The flowers are simple, with a diameter of approximately 1 inch, featuring five white petals.

Flower Color: The flowers are typically white, found distributed in small clusters along the branches.

Fruit: The fruit is a drupe, initially green and turning purple as it matures.

Seed: Single stone pit is contained within the drupe, usually small, oval, and brown in color.

Bark: The bark of Mexican Plum is initially smooth and , darkening and developing scaly fissures with age.

Hairs: Leaves are slightly fuzzy.

Height: Mexican Plum typically reaches a height of 15 to 25 feet.

Mexican plum fruit


The white stuff on the fruit is wild yeast which can be used to make bread or alcohol same as store-bought yeasts.


Mexican plum tree


Mexican plum tree trunk


Close-up of wild plum flower (photo taken February in Houston).


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 fruit of the Mexican plum can vary wildly in taste from sweet to inedible. Other Prunus species can be found in Texas and all have edible fruit but toxic leaves and seeds/pits. Their leaves and seeds/pits contains cyanide so you shouldn't eat these parts. The amount of cyanide varies and in extreme circumstances the seeds can be roasted and then eaten if they are NOT bitter.

The gray powder on the surface of the plums is a wild yeast which can be used to start sourdough or make wine. To use wild plums to create a sourdough follow these steps:

Step 1. On day 1 combine 1 cup whole wheat flour with 1/2 cup cool, non-chlorinated water, and 4-6 undamaged, gray-dusted wild plums in a bowl and gently stir together. Cover with a towel and let sit somewhere warm and undisturbed.

Step 2. After 24 hours discard half the mixture but leaving the plums in the retained portion. Add 1 cup unbleached flour and 1/2 cup non-chlorinater water. Gently mix everything. Cover with a towel, let sit somewhere warm for 24 hours.

Step 3. By now (day 3) you may see some bubbling in your starter and it'll hopefully have a somewhat fruity scent. If the starter is bubbling it's time to remove the plums. You'll also have to start "feeding" it twice a day. For each feeding scoop up heaping 1/4 cup of the starter and combine it with 1 cup unbleached flour and 1/2 cup non-chlorinated water about every 12 hours. Unused starter should be shared or discarded.

Step 4. Keep repeating Step 3 for 3-7 days until it almost doubles in size between feedings and has a nice, tangy aroma.

Step 5. Start making sourdough breads! Move unused sourdough starter to the fridge, discarding half and feeding it 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water once a day. If you don't remove some starter every day it'll overrun your container and also likely become too acidic, killing itself. Humans aren't the only creatures that take over paradise and end up killing ourselves with our waste. Yeast does this, too.

For making wild plum wine you should get 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Herbs, Fruits, and Flowers (Back to Basics Cooking)


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.

Pokeweed/Poke Salat

Scientific Name(s): Phytolacca americana L.
Abundance: uncommon
What: young shoots & leaves, berry juice
How: young shoots & leaves boiled in three changes of water; berry juice boiled then made into jam/jelly
Where: woods, shady areas, sunny areas, fields
When: spring
Nutritional Value: vitamins
Dangers: all parts of plant contain different amounts of extremely toxic (fatal) alkaloid compounds, especially roots, stems, mature leaves, and seeds.

Medicinal Summary:
Root* - lymph flow stimulator; anti-inflammatory; anti-swelling; antibacterial (tincture)
*extremely poisonous, only to be used by trained experts!

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

Leaf Shape: The leaves are large, ovate to lanceolate, and can measure about 4 to 10 inches in length and 2 to 5 inches in width.

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

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

Leaf Color: The leaves are a medium to dark green, sometimes with a reddish tinge, especially as they age.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and borne in racemes, which are long, drooping clusters.

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

Fruit: The plant produces berries that are initially green, turning to a deep purple or almost black when ripe. They spiral down red-purple stalks 2"-4" long, to form narrow, elongated clusters.

Seed: Each berry contains several small, black seeds.

Stem: The stem is thick, hollow, and often reddish or purple as it matures.

Hairs: There are no significant hairs on the leaves or stems.

Height: Phytolacca americana can grow quite tall, typically reaching 4 to 10 feet in height over the course of just one summer.

Young pokeweed plants, ready to be boiled then eaten.

The pokeweed on the left is a perfect size for eating, the one on the right is too big.




Young sprouts next to a more mature pokeweed. Red color has already appeared in the older pokeweed's stem, indicating it is now unsafe to eat, even after multiple boilings.


Mature plants can grow to over 5' tall in one summer, making them one of the fastest growing plants in Texas. When mature they'll have red stalks, and multiple berry clusters as shown below.

Pokeweed leaves are hairless, pinnate-veined, alternate along the stem, edges are slightly "ruffled" with very minor scalloping, and can grow to over 10" in length!

Flowering pokeweed. There will usually be multiple flower spikes on the plant.


Close-up of a flower spike. The flowers spiral up the spike. The round bulbs haven't blossomed yet.

 Extreme close-up of a single pokeweed flower. Note the five, white petals.

After the flower are done the berries begin to grow. They remind me of squat, green pumpkins at first.

The older berries, near the base of the spike, ripen to a purple color before the berries at the tip.  The seeds are extremely poisonous but the pokeweed berry juice can be made into a jelly...very carefully!

Completely ripe, now. They form a single spiral down the stalk, just like the flowers did.

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.


Pokeweed was often one of the first greens to appear after a winter devoid of fresh plants and so it was cherished not just for its fantastic taste but also because it allowed satisfying a hunger for plants. It mainly grows in the protective yet sunny edges of woods with braver plants being out in full sun an others hiding in complete shade. It's bright green color stands out among the darker greens, browns, and grays of later winter plants. The stem starts out green like the leaves but quickly turns red as it matures. The youngest part of the stem at the top of the plant may stay green while the rest of the stem turns almost a purple-red color.

Young, boiled pokeweed leaves & shoots are considered a special treat in the South and a canned version is occasionally available in grocery stores. The pokeweed leaves must be harvested before there is any noticeable red color in the leaves or stem, usually when the plant is still under about six inches tall. Even at this young age there are highly toxic alkaloids present so the leaves must be boiled in three changes of water to render them safe enough to eat. Bring just to a boil, then replace the hot water with fresh, room temperature water. Unfortunately, the required boiling does reduce their vitamin C content some but they will remain loaded with all sorts of other vitamins and minerals.

The seeds are very toxic even after cooking, but the juice of the berries can be made safe by boiling. After boiling the berry juice can be made into a jam or jelly. The berry juice can also be used as a dye or even as an ink.


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.

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.