Lizard's Tail

Scientific Name(s): Saururus cernuus
Abundance: uncommon
What: roots, leaves
How: tea
Where: moist areas, edge of water.
When: spring, summer, fall
Nutritional Value: none

Medicinal Summary:
Roots - sedative; pain relief; wound healing (tisane)

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

Leaf Shape: The leaves are heart-shaped (cordate) with a length of approximately 4 to 8 inches and a width of 3 to 6 inches.

Leaf Venation: The venation is prominently palmate, radiating from the base of the leaf like the fingers of a hand.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is smooth (entire) with no serrations.

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

Flower Structure: The flowers are arranged in a spike-like cluster, known as a raceme, located at the tip of a drooping (cernuus) stem. Each flower is small, with a diameter of about 0.2 to 0.3 inches, and has no distinct petals but rather white to greenish sepals.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually white or cream-colored.

Fruit: The fruit is a small, elongated capsule.

Seed: Seeds are tiny, ovoid, and brown.

Stem: The stems are erect, slender, and may have a reddish tint. They bear the raceme of flowers at the top.

Hairs: The plant is generally hair-free but the flower spikes may feel slightly fuzzy while still immature and green.

Height: Saururus cernuus typically grows to a height of 1 to 3 feet, with the flowering spike extending above the foliage.

Bed of Lizard's Tail plants.




Close-up of leaf.


Lizard's Tail flower stalk before flowers develop.


Lizard's Tail flowerhead and leaves.


The rhizome roots of Lizard's Tail.


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.


Look for Lizard's Tail lining the banks of shaded Texas ponds beginning in the late winter and lasting until mid-fall. The "tails" show up in late April, blossoms in May, and are gone by July. The root can be gathered any time of year.

It has no edible/nutritional value but its roots have a long history of being used medicinally as a tea, which has both sedative and some pain-relieving properties. A wash made from boiled roots was used as a surface wash for rheumatism. Also, a paste of boiled then mashed roots was applied the sore, chapped breasts of nursing mothers and to heal flesh wounds.


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.

Loblolly Pine

Scientific Name(s): Pinus genus
Abundance: plentiful
What: needles, seeds, inner bark
How: needle tea; seeds raw, roasted; inner bark toasted
Where: prefer low wet areas, landscaping
When: all year
Nutritional Value: vitamin C, calories
Dangers: some pine needles may contain phytoestrogens which can cause miscarriages in cattle under certain situations. Because of this pregnant humans are also advised to avoid them...mainly because there are lawyers in the world and I don't want to be sued.

Medicinal Summary:
Needles - antioxidant; anti-scurvy; high in vitamin C, may help undo damage of artificial spike proteins (tisane, tincture)
Sap - antifungal; minor antibacterial (poultice)

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are arranged in fascicles (bundles), usually in groups of three.

Leaf Shape: Long, slender needles, approximately 6 to 9 inches in length.

Leaf Venation: Needle-like leaves with parallel venation.

Leaf Margin: The needle-like leaves have entire margins.

Leaf Color: Needles are green when living and turn brown when dead.

Flower Structure: Loblolly pines produce both male and female cones, approximately 1.5" long and 1/4" wide.

Flower Color: Male cones are small and yellow, while female cones are larger and brown.

Fruit: The fruit is in the form of woody cones, approximately 3 to 6 inches in length.They are green while growing and then turn brown when mature.

Seed: Seeds are small, winged, and brown. Each cone may contain numerous seeds.

Bark: The brown bark is scaly and becomes furrowed with age.

Hairs: Loblolly pines have hairless needles and bark.

Height: Texas pines can reach heights of up to 100 feet.

Loblolly pine








Long Leaf pine (Pinus palustris , left) have needles over 10" long. Loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda, right) needles average 5" long.

Pollen-producing "flowers" before releasing pollen. These do not become pine cones but just release pine pollen.


Loblolly Pine flowers during the release pollen.


Pine pollen contains the molecule Androstenedione which is close enough to testosterone to trick the human body. Pine pollen in tequila...what could possibly go wrong?!

Loblolly Pine cones and their "winged" seeds. The gray, open cone already dropped its seeds but the tightly closed gray and green cones will contain harvestable seeds.


Squirrels will show you when the green cones are ripe by tearing them apart to get to the seeds at the base of each scale.


Tiny pine seedlings can be plucked then added to salads.


Making tea but the needles need to be chopped up into much smaller pieces.


Fresh pine sap ready to be made into Native American glue.




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.


Majestic loblolly trees, over 100ft tall at maturity, are often referred to as "telephone pole trees" as their long, thick, straight trunks made great telephone poles back in the day. They prefer low, wet areas but their vigorous growth and cheap price make them a popular landscaping tree in urban areas.

Like the pines of the north which Sacajawea used to cure scurvy in Lewis & Clark's men, loblolly pine needles are rich in vitamin C. However, they also contain phytoestrogen molecules which can lead to miscarriages in women. For this reason, pregnant women should avoid drinking pine needle tea whether from loblollys or other pines. To make pine tea dice up fresh, green pine needles and soak them in hot but not boiling water for up to ten minutes. If boiled, the resulting tea will end up containing a high concentration of unpleasant-tasting terpenes (it's taste like Pine-Sol cleaner). If you do it right the tea will smell like morning in a pine forest...fantastic!

Unlike most eastern/northern white pines (Pinus strobus), the inner bark of the loblolly pine is not considered a source of food/calories because its cambium layer (inner bark) doesn't taste nearly as good as the cambium of white pines. However, in an emergency it will sustain you. Up north, White Pine (Pinus strobus) has delicious inner bark, tasting somewhat like bacon when fried.

Outer bark cut away to reveal inner, cambium layer (white) over the wood (yellow).


Peel the cambium layer into thin sheets, the thinner the better.


Cook the inner bark until it is brown and crispy all over. These still need more cooking.


In the spring yellow pine pollen coats everything around these trees. This pollen is chemically almost exactly identical to the male hormone testosterone and can be purchased over the internet as a testosterone supplement. Native American warriors would carry a small bag of this pollen with them to eat before battles to "pump them up" for the coming fight.

Pine sap burns fiercely because it's a mixture of long-chain organic molecules and turpentine-like compounds. It ignites early which makes it an excellent fire starting material. Fresh sap was also mixed with rabbit dung and wood as to make a Native American glue. To make this glue carefully heat up the sap to a full liquid state in a metal can or old pot. Then for every ~4 parts sap add 1 part ground-up dried rabbit pellets and 1 part wood ash. The fine plant fibers from the rabbit dung worked like the fiber strands in high-strength packing tape. The sap would be carefully melted in a container over a fire, mixed with the rabbit dung and wood ash, then "swirled" onto the top of twigs. When they needed some glue this twig/sap/dung "lollipop" was softened over a fire and dabbed onto what ever needed gluing.

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.

Loquat

Scientific Name(s): Eriobotrya japonica
Abundance: plentiful
What: fruit, leaves
How: fruit raw, dried, jam/jelly, wine; leaves made into tea
Where: landscaping
When: spring
Nutritional Value: calories, vitamin A, trace minerals

Medicinal Summary:
Leaves - anti-cancer; anti-inflammatory; cough suppressant; congestion relief; anti-viral for lung-specific infections (tisane, tincture)
Seeds - anti-inflammatory; reduces chemotherapy damages; reduces allergic dermatitis; anti-diabetic types I & II (tisane, tincture)

Leaf Arrangement: Leaves are alternately arranged along the branches.

Leaf Shape: Leaves are oblong to elliptical, commonly measuring 5 to 12 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide.

Leaf Venation: The venation is pinnate, with prominent midribs and noticeable lateral veins.

Leaf Margin: Margins are serrated or toothed, especially towards the leaf tip.

Leaf Color: Dark green on the upper surface, often with a rusty or grayish-brown underside due to dense pubescence.

Flower Structure: The 1" diameter flowers have 5 petals and are arranged in dense terminal panicles 6 to 10 inches long.

Flower Color: Typically white or cream-colored.

Fruit: Produces a pome fruit, similar in appearance to an apple, usually 1 to 2 inches in diameter.

Seed: Each fruit contains one to five large, brown seeds.

Stem: Branches are woody and can become quite thick in older plants.

Hairs: Leaves have a dense, woolly pubescence, particularly on the underside.

Height: The tree can grow to 10 to 30 feet in height.

Loquat tree


Closeup of loquat flower on New Year's Day.


Young loquat fruit




Ripe loquat fruit on tree.


Ripe loquat fruit artistically displayed in a bowl.


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


Loquat trees have a tropical appearance yet are evergreen and can handle cold weather down to 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit. They are a common landscaping tree in Houston and thrive here. Their golden fruit ripens in late spring with the best crops coming after a cool winter. They are self fertile which is convenient for homeowners. The fruit has an elongated shape but is smaller than a golf ball and contain 1-3 fairly large, inedible seeds. They have a sweet, tangy taste and can be eaten in many ways including raw, candied, stewed, made into jams, jelly, or wine or dried. Some people prefer to peel off the tart, fuzzy skin. A tree over seven years old can produce up to 110 pounds of fruit each year!

Tea made from loquat leaves is considered a strong medicine in Asia. Besides containing large concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants they also contain amygdalin which is believed to help repair liver damage/increase liver functioning. For diabetics, loquats leaves contain triterpens (tormentic acid) and assorted polysaccharides, both of which may stimulate insulin production which is beneficial for diabetics. Leaves and creams made from the leaves were placed on skin cancers and loquat leaf tea was used to fight internal cancers.

The seeds of loquats can be used to create an amaretto-flavored liquor. Add 5-7 chopped loquat seeds to 1 liter of 90-proof or greater alcohol lad let soak with shaking for six months. After six months strain out the seeds and add up to 250 mL of sugar water (1 cup water + 1 cup sugar) to sweeten. Base the amount of sugar water on taste...but don't drink all your liquor while trying to get the proportions 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.

Lotus

Scientific Name(s): Nelumbo lutea
Abundance: uncommon
What: nuts, tubers
How: nuts raw, roasted, pounded into flour; tubers raw, roasted, candied, baked.
Where: still water
When: nuts fall, winter; tubers late summer, fall
Nutritional Value: nuts protein, carbohydrates; tubers starch
Dangers:none...well, occasionally alligators in Texas.

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are peltate, meaning the leaf's stalk attaches to the center of the leaf blade, and they rise well above the water surface on long petioles.

Leaf Shape: Leaves are circular and large, commonly measuring 18 to 36 inches in diameter.

Leaf Venation: The venation is radiate, sometimes called orbicular. Veins start from the point where the petiole attaches to the underside of the leaf and run out to its edge, sometimes branching between stem and edge.

Leaf Margin: Margins are smooth and entire, forming a distinctive rounded shape without indentations.

Leaf Color: A bright green on the upper surface, often with a waxy coating that can repel water.

Flower Structure: Flowers are large and solitary with numerous petals, rising above the water on stout stalks, typically 12 to 18 inches across.

Flower Color: The blooms are a soft yellow, with a central cone-like structure that houses numerous carpels.

Fruit: The fruit is an aggregate of nuts nestled in a pit in a funnel-shaped receptacle which becomes woody and conical as it matures. Each nut is visible through an opening in the top of the funnel/cone.

Seed: Seeds are large, hard, and ovoid, about 0.5 to 0.8 inches in length, with the capability to remain viable for up to 100 years.

Stem: Stems are actually elongated petioles that are thick and waxy, reaching heights of 3 to 6 feet above the water surface.

Hairs: There are no hairs on the stems (petioles) or flowers; both are characterized by a smooth surface. The top side of the lrge, round leaves are covered in microscopic hairs that impart a hydrophobicity to the the leaf surface, but are too small to feel by touch or see by the unaided eye.

Height: The plant can reach an overall height, including the flower stalks, of up to 8 feet above the water level.

Lotus plants. In shallow water they often stand out a foot or more above the water.




Close-up of a lotus leaf. They are intact circles, unlike the cloven form of regular water lily pads. Lotus pads can grow to over two feet in diameter. Microscopic, hydrophobic hairs on the surface of the lotus pads cause water to bead up and run like mercury.




Small lotus pad in spring. Note the two lighter hemispheres mark at it's center.


Lotus tuber. Raw it tastes kind of like a potato.


Lotus flowers are large, up to a foot across and the number of seeds they contain can vary.




Lotus seed pod ready for picking.


A perfect lotus nut, ready to be shelled.


A shelled lotus nut. You still have to remove the green, baby plant before roasting and eating otherwise the nut will be bitter.


Lotus seedpods and nuts after drying in the wild.


Cracked lotus nut. The small, green plant germ (plant embryo) is very bitter and must be removed. The nuts are very hard to crack.


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.


Common in many shallow, still water, lotus are often mistaken for some sort of large water lily. The main differences between lotus and water lilies are lotus "pads" are round & intact whereas water lily pads have a cleft or gap in the pad and so aren't a complete circle. Also, lotus pads grow up to a foot out of the water on strong stalks while lily pads stop growing at the surface of the water. Lotus seedpods look like weird, green showerheads pointing up at the sky while green and then drooping face down towards the water when brown and dry. The tubesrs are thick, long, segmented and MUCH tastier than water lily tubers!

Lotus nuts were a much-beloved food of Native Americans due to the flavor and high-energy content. After cracking and removal of the small, bitter, green plant embryo the seeds can be eaten raw, roasted, roasted then pounded into flour, or candied. Toasting, boiling, then mushing up the seeds gives a hearty porridge that reminds me of Malt-O-Meal.

Lotus tubers can be somewhat of a challenge to harvest. The tubers grow during the summer at the end of the lotus runners. Follow a pad stem or seedpod stem down to its base runner then follow this runner to its end. These tubers can be eaten raw, roasted, or candied by boiling in a concentrated sugar solution. Mix a little ginger in with the lotus root when you candy it for a real treat!


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.