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TREES,
SHRUBS, AND WOODY VINES
Acacia, Catclaw
Acacia greggii
Common Names:
Devil Claws, Texas Mimosa, Paradise
Flower, Gregg Acacia, Long-Flowered Acacia, Huajilla,
Chaparral, Gatuña, and Uña de Gato.
Identification:
Thorny, usually found in thickets
but individual trees can be up to 30 ft and are very dense.
Location:
found on hillsides at altitudes
of 1,000-5,000 ft in Trans-Pecos and a concentration in
Big Bend.
Fruit:
persistent from July through
the winter
Culinary use:
Legumes were pounded into a coarse
meal known as “pinole” and either eaten raw or baked
into cakes. Flowers are an important source for honey.
Acacia, Mescat
Acacia constricta
Common Names:
White-thorn Acacia, All-thorn
Acacia, Huisache, Gigantillo, Vara Prieta, Chaparro Prieto,
and Largancillo.
Identification:
Spiny shrub up to 18 ft with
slender spines in pairs at the nodes
Location:
dry, sandy soil at altitudes
of 1,500-6,500 ft in High Plains and along the Rio Grande
in far south Texas.
Fruit:
July-September
Culinary use:
Legumes were pounded into a coarse
meal known as “pinole” and either eaten raw or baked
into cakes. Flowers are an important source for honey.
Acacia, Sweet
Acacia farnesiana
Identification:
Found either as a shrub
with many stems at the base or as a tree up to 30 ft. Tends
to have a flat top in when found near the coast, but typically
has a round top with hanging branches.
Common Names:
Huisache, Honey-ball, Opopanax,
Popinach, Hinsach, Binorama, Vinorama, Guisache, Aroma,
Zubin, Espinillo.
Location:
found in south, east, and west
Texas south of Travis Co. and possibly north to Mc Lennan
Co., also cultivated as a honey bee nectar source.
Flowers: February-March
Fruit: May-July
Medical use:
Bark is good for diarrhea. Leaves
are dried and pulverized then used in dressing wounds.
An ointment made from the flowers is used for headache, an
infusion for dyspepsia. Green fruit is very astringent, a decoction
is for dysentery, inflammation of the skin, and mucous membranes.
In San Luis Potos' a decoction of the roots is a remedy for tuberculosis.
Culinary use:
Good winter forage plant, ripe
seeds pressed for cooking oil
Other:
Bark and fruit are used for tanning,
dying, ink. Flowers are insecticidal. Glue from young
pods mends pottery.
Alder, Hazel
Alnus serrulata
Identification:
Small tree up to 90 ft tall with
smooth or a bit scaly bark, related to the birch family.
Elliptic or egg shaped leaves being widest at the tip.
Location:
wet soil and wetlands along streams
in East Texas
Medical use:
Bark yields tannic acid and is
astringent for intermittent fever
Anacahuita
Cordia boissieri
Location:
dry soil of the lower Rio Grande
valley in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Zapata, and Willacy
counties.
Medical use:
The fruit in the form of jelly
is a remedy for coughs and colds. Leaves are a remedy
for rheumatism and bronchial disturbances.
Anisacanth, Wright
Anisacanthus wrightii
Location:
rich soil in thickets in southern
and western Texas, Bexar, Uvalde, and Kinney Co.
Medical use:
used by the Mexican Indians as
a remedy for colic
Apache Plume
Fallugia paradoxa
Identification:
Dense bush up to about 8 ft tall
with bladed leaves 1/4 - 1 inch long in 3-7 fingerlike
lobes
Location:
along dry arroyos of deserts,
or on rocky or gravely slopes in Central, west, and northwest
Texas. Usually at elevations of 3,000-8,000 feet. Abundant
in the foot hills of Chisos Mountains in Brewster County.
Medical use:
The Hopi of Arizona used an infusion
of the leaves to stimulate hair growth
Ape's Earring, Ebony
Pithecellobium flexicaule
Identification:
A shrub or tree up to 40 ft tall
with paired spines often with zigzagging branches. Flowers
resemble a bottle brush and are a pale yellow to creamy
white in color.
Location:
found from the shores of Matagorda
Bay to the lower Rio Grande Area. Esp. Cameron Co. Planted
in Brownsville and elsewhere as a landscaping plant..
Fruit:
Seeds are in large pods from
4-8 inches long.
Culinary use:
Seeds can be eaten boiled when
green, and roasted when ripe. Pod shells are used as
coffee substitute.
Arizona Cockroach Plant
Haplophyton crooksii
Location:
Found in Hudspeth and Brewster
Counties
Medical use:
Applied in the form of a lotion
to kill parasites
Other use:
A decoction is mixed with molasses
or cornmeal for a cockroach poison Applied in the form
of a lotion to repel mosquitoes and fleas
Arrow Weed Pluchea
Pluchea sericea
Location:
usually below an altitude of
3,000 feet in sandy or saline soil of Trans Pecos Texas
Medical use:
An infusion of the leaves were
used as an eyewash for sore eyes by the Pima Indians
Ash, Berlandier
Fraxinus berlandieriana
Identification:
A small round topped tree rarely
over 30 ft tall with slender leafelets paired oppisately
in groups of 3-5. Serrated and somewhat thick 3-4 inches
long.
Common Names:
Plumero, Fresno, and Mexican
Ash. Often mistakenly called Arizona Ash
Location:
moist canyons and stream banks
in Central and Trans-Pecos Texas and southward, rarely
found east of the Colorado River
Medical use:
Bark is used as a tonic and febrifuge.
Leaves in a decoction treats yellow fever, malaria, gout,
and rheumatism.
Aspen, Quaking
Populus tremuloides
Location:
from sea level to 10000 in the
Trans-Pecos
Medical use:
bark is used for fevers, antiscorbutic.
Populin and salicin is extracted from the buds is used
externally for muscular rheumatism and internally as an
expectorant in subacute or chronic bronchitis, usually combined
with other drugs.
Azalea, Piedmont
Rhododendron canescens
Identification:
A small shrub 3-9 feet tall with
simple leaves 1.5 - 4.25 inches long either alternate
or clustered at the end of branch tips
Location:
in sandy, acid soil along bogs,
seeps and streams in the pinelands of east Texas
Culinary use:
A large, gall like, green, translucent
structure on the twigs is edible and was used by early
settlers for pickling
Baccharis, Seepwillow
Baccharis glutinosa
Location:
along streams in west Texas from almost
sea level to almost 5,000 feet
Medical use:
An eyewash was prepared from the leaves
Baccharis, Yerba de Pasmo
Baccharis pteronioides
Location:
in dry soil of hills in open sun at altitudes
of 3,000-5,000 feet in the Chisos Mountains, Brewster County;
in Limpana Canyon, Jeff Davis County; in upper McKittrick
Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains, Culberson County.
Medical use:
dried powdered leaves are used for treating
sores. infusion of the leaves are used as a chill tonic.
Yerba de Pasmo means "chill weed"
Bay, Red
Persea borbonia
Identification:
An aromatic shrub or small tree 10-52
feet in height. Evergreen with elliptic or lanceolate shiny
leaves 2-8 inches in length.
Location:
rich sandy soil of river-bottoms or swamps.
usually near coasts. though isolated colonies have been
found in Travis County.
Culinary use:
dried leaves are used to flavor soups
and meats
Bayberry
Morella cerifera
Common Names:
Wax Myrtle
Identification:
A fragrant tree or shrub up to 22 ft tall
with evergreen simple leaves 1-5 inches in length with a
bayberry aroma.
Location:
east Texas and along the Gulf Coast near
streams, lakes and wetlands
Fruit:
in fall and are hard round fruits about
1/8 inch in diameter coated with white wax.
Medical use:
Treats mucous accumulation of the alimentary
canal, bronchpulmonnic diseases, scarlet fever, dysentery,
catarrhal diarrhea, cholera, goiter, scrofula, gastritis,
and typhoid.
Bark should be gathered in fall, cleaned
thoroughly and separated from the outer bark. Dry completely
and keep in a dry place in dark glass or sealed pottery container.
Uterine hemorrhage and heavy mensturation
can be limited by packing with cotton soaked with tea. Also
good for hemmorages of the bowels and stomach.
Infusion of berries remedies itch and
is a good vermifuge.
(Dose is 1 tsp. bark to 1 c boiling
water,or tincture of bark 1/2 - 1 fluid dram.)
In cases of chills and the flu a compound
will encourage circulation and perspiration:
(Bayberry bark 1 oz. + Wild Ginger 1/4
oz +Cayenne 1/2 oz) One teaspoon of the compound to 1 pint
of water taken in mouthfulls throughout the day. Stay indoors
and away from drafts.
For a blocked nose or inflammation, sniffing
the berries will help.
Culinary use:
Leaves can substitute for hops when making
beer. Fruits may be used with strongly flavored dishes like
wild game, a good substitute for bay.
Other use:
Wax from around seeds can be used to sent
candles (melting point 116-120 F
Beech
Fagus grandifolia
Identification:
A large tree up to 132 feet in height with
smooth grey bar. Leaves are simple alternate blades usually
eggshaped and 3-6 inches in length with toothed edges.
Location:
found in east Texas Pineywoods in forests
usually near streams.
Fruits:
September-October Triangular thinshelled
nuts 1/2 inches long inside of a prickly hull.
Medical use:
Leaves are astringent, soothing to the
stomach, and improve appetite. Bark and Leaves are used
to treat stomach ulcers, liver, kidney, bladder, and inflammation
associated with dysentery.
Tea of the leaves is good for cleansing
cooling, and healing sores, bathe often with fresh tea
or can be made into an ointment by boiling leaves in oil .
Titration of nuts treat epilepsy, headache,
hydrophobia, and vertigo. Creosote from wood is used for
chronic bronchitis and upper respiratory infections.
A creosote is distilled from beech tar
and used as a antiseptic and disinfectant.
(Dose: 1 tsp. of leaves or 1/4
tsp. of granulated bark to 1 c of water. 3-4 c daily)
Culinary use:
Fruit may be roasted for coffee substitute,
seeds can be pressed for a great oil or substituted for
butter. The seeds can also be ground into a flour.
Birch
Betula nigra
Identification:
A small to large tree up to 90 feet
in height with grey bark that tends to peel off in strips. Triangular
or diamond shaped leaves 1-4 inches long with white bottoms and toothed
margins.
Location:
found in East Texas Pineywoods along streams
and riverbottoms, uncommon
Medical use:
Treats diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, alimentary
tract aliments, cleansing the blood, rheumatism, dropsy,
gout, kidney and bladder stones, and expelling wounds. Leaf
tea treats boils and skin ailments. Tea is good for boils
or skin eruptions, and oral sores. Oil of wintergreen distilled
from the inner bark and twigs is used to treat eczema and skin irritations.
Birch buds, gathered in early spring and preserved in vodka
treats colds, pain, rheumatic conditions, stomach ulcers,
vitality, avitaminosis. Birch charcoal is used as an absorbent
for poisoning, gas bloating, and indigestion. Sap is prepared
as tea and is a good source of vitamins, for anemia, gout, scurvy,
rheumatism
Dose:
1 tsp. of leaves or bark in 1 c of water
for 15 min., 3-5 c daily, mixes well with other herbs.
Culinary use:
The inner bark can be pounded into a flour
and used for baking in emergency situations. Sap can be used
for syrup or as a beverage, the most sap can be gathered from
late March-April. Young twigs can be steeped in water to make tea.
Bitter-sweet, American
Celastrus scandens
Location:
many types of soil, thickets, woods, fence
rows and along streams in central Texas
Medical use:
Root bark is used in the treatment of chronic
affections of the liver and in secondary syphilis, also said
to have emetic, diaphoretic, and alterative properties.
Bouvardia, Scarlet
Bouvardia ternifolia
Location:
southwestern and western Texas. Abundant in
some of the canyons of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend
National Park.
Medical use:
roots are used as a remedy for dysentery, hydrophobia,
heat exaustion, and as a preventative for excessive bleeding.
Buckeye, Ohio
Aesculus glabra
Identification:
Usually a shrub but can grow to a height of
35 feet. Leaves are found in palmates of 7-9 leaflets are a
very narrow ellipse or even lanceolate 2 1/2 - 5 inches in length.
Location:
in moist, rich soil of woodlands or riverbanks
in northeastern Texas
Fruit:
May -June, covered in prickles or more uncommonly
smooth.
Medical use:
Bark contains a glycoside, aesculin, which when
used in a 4% solution in an ointment can protect the skin
from UV rays
Other use:
Crushed fruit was used for fish poison and the
roots can be used for washing clothes.
WARNING:
ALL PLANT PARTS AND SEEDS ARE POISONOUS
Buckeye, Red
Aesculus pavia
Common Names:
Scarlet Buckeye, Woolly Buckeye, Firecracker
plant, Fish-Poison Bush
Identification:
A shrub that rarely attains a height over 28
feet. Leaves are palmate with 5 leafelets but rarely 3-7, oval
in shape with serrated edges and 3-6 inches in length.
Location:
found along streams on the coastal plains
of East and Central Texas
Fruits: May - June
Medical use:
powdered bark is used for toothaches and skin
ulcers
Other use:
Crushed fruit was used for fish poison and
the roots can be used for washing clothes.
WARNING:
ALL PLANT PARTS AND SEEDS ARE POISONOUS
Bumelia, Saffron Plum
Bumelia angustifolia
Location: in southern
and western Texas often on shell mounds near the Gulf
of Mexico with other chaparral growth from Matagorda County to
Cameron County
Fruit: April-June
Culinary use: Fruit is
edible
Bumelia, Woolybucket
Bumelia lanuginosa
Location:
found in east Texas and as another variety in Central
and West Texas
Fruits: September - October
Culinary use:
fruit is edible but in large doses causes stomach
disturbances and dizziness.
Bush Pepper
Capsicum frutescens
Location: statewide
Medical use:
Capsicum is a good stimulant for atony of the stomach
or intestines. Also used in the treatment of relaxed uvula
and similar conditions. Also used in the treatment of chilblains.
Used to treat colds by steeping in water and adding sugar
Culinary use:
Berries are rubbed on sun drying meat to keep away flies,
made into a seasoning by soaking in vinegar.
Bush Rock-spirea
Holodiscus dumosus
Location:
Dry, well drained, sunny sites of canyons and mountainsides
at altitudes of 3,000-10,500 feet. In the Trans-Pecos region
in the Chisos and Guadalupe Mountains.
Culinary use:
The fruit is eaten by the Tewa Indians of New Mexico
Butterfly Bush, Escobilla
Buddleia scordioides
Location:
on dry sunny open sites in southwestern Texas
Medical use:
Tea from the leaves is a remedy for indigestion
Butterfly, Woolly
Buddleia marrubiifolia
Location:
well drained sunny sites in western and southern Texas
along the Rio Grande
Medical use:
An infusion of the flowers are used as a bath for
rheumatic disorders and as a aperitive and diuretic.
Culinary use:
An infusion of the flowers is used to give butter
a yellow color
Camphor tree
Cinnamomum camphoria
Location: often cultivated
in Houston, but sometimes escapes.
Medical use: good for
lineaments. Preparation for camphor is to steam and distill
wood chips 30 lb = 1 lb camphor
WARNING:
CAMPHOR IS CARCINOGENIC IF TAKEN INTERNALLY, ALSO EXCESS CONSUMPTION
CAUSES VOMITING, PALPITATIONS AND DEATH.
Cane, Giant
Arundinaria gigantea
Location: low grounds
or in water of ponds, rivers, and swamps, primarily east
Texas
Culinary use: young shoots
are cooked like bamboo shoots, large seeds can be gathered and
ground into a flour.
WARNING: BE ON THE
LOOKOUT FOR ERGOT Claviceps spp., A HIGHLY POISIONOUS
FUNGUS, USUALLY PINK OR PURPLISH IN COLOR AND ABOUT THE SAME SIZE
AS THE SEEDS IF NOT A BIT LARGER. IF IT IS PRESENT, COLLECT IN
ANOTHER AREA.
Castela, Allthorn
Castela texana
Location: Central, southwestern
and western Texas on rocky banks of the Rio Grande near
Alamo, Hildago County; shores of the Gulf near Riviera, Kleberg
County; also in the vicinity of Austin and San Antonio.
Medical use: Extracts
of the bark are used as a remedy for intestinal disturbances,
skin diseases, fever, yellow jaundice, and dysentery, also
as a tonic. In the treatment of amebic dysentery it has been
found that a fluidacetextract in the proportion of on part in
a million is sufficient to render Entamoeba histolytica immobile.
Ceanothus, Desert
Ceanothus greggii
Location: on gravely slopes
or in rocky canyons at altitudes of 2,000-5,600 feet
in the Trans-Pecos region
Medical use: treats syphilis
and is said to possess purgative properties
Other use: Flowers are
used in Mexico to give a cleansing lather for clothes washing
Roots are used for red dye
Ceanothus, Jersey Tea
Ceanothus americanus
Location: Praries, woodlands,
and barrens
Culinary use: tea can
be made from the dried leaves, brew like an oriental tea
Medical use: The root is astringent and contains ceanothic
acid and has the property of increasing blood coagulation,
especially in the prevention of hemorrhage during surgery.
Dose: of tincture 4 fluidrachm
16 cc. at intervals of 30 minutes more or less, as may
be required
Cedar, Eastern Red
Juniperus virginiana
Location: found in East Texas, reaching westward toward
Wichita Falls
Medical use: Leaves are
used for a diuretic, makes a good epispastic in the form
of a cerate Young twigs gathered in May are used to make a tincture
The berries in decoction are a diaphoretic and emmenagogue.
Oil is used as an application for arthritis, rheumatic, rheumatoid,
traumatic affections. 1 bushel of chips = 1/2 pint of oil
Culinary use: Berries
are edible and are dried for winter use, dried and ground
into flour, mixed with water, and kneaded into a hard mass then
dried in the sun. Also pounded into a meal, ground into a paste,
dried, then eaten.
Other use: wood is an
insect repellent.
WARNING:
OIL IS POISONOUS AND CAUSES VENOUS CONGESTION.
Chaste-tree, Lilac
Vitex agnus-castus
Location: usually cultivated,
found in dry sunny locations
Fruits:
Medical use: seeds are
used as a sedative
Culinary use: Leaves are
used to spice food and as an aromatic
Chaste-tree, Negundo
Vitex negundo
Location: Found cultivated
on the coast, but does escape
Medical use: A pillow
of leaves treats headaches, and a decoction treats headache
and catarrh Roots and leaves are used as a tonic and febrifuge
Cherry, Black
Prunus serotina
Location: East Texas,
Edwards Plateau and Trans-Pecos areas
Fruits: June- October
Medical use: Bark is used
as a cough remedy young bark is the best, also used for
children's diarrhea, indigestion, and bronchitis, will also
dissolve bladder and kidney stones when administered over time
and in combination with other drugs
Dose: 15 drops of tincture
in water
Culinary use: throughly
dried stones can be pounded into flour, fruit makes exelent
jams and jellies, though pectin must be added. Sweeter fruits
after pitting can be used in pancakes, muffins and other baked goods.
WARNING:
FOLIAGE AND FRESH PITS ARE POISONOUS
Cherry, Common Choke
Prunus virginiana
Location: found in East
Texas, Panhandle, and Trans-Pecos areas.
Fruits: July-September
Medical use: Bark is used as
a cough remedy young bark is the best, also used for
children's diarrhea, indigestion, and bronchitis, scrofula,
heart palpitation should not be used in dry cough, dyspepsia,
hectic fever, debility of protracted and enfeebled cases of congestion
in the chest and throat. Solution of concentrated resinous extract
is good for anorexia, dyspepsia, heart weakness of, hypertrophy
of, irritable, pyrosis.
Dose: 15 drops of tincture
in water will also dissolve bladder and kidney stones when
administered over time, if taken too fast the stones will be
expelled without being softened.
Culinary use: Dried berries
can be used to flavor soups, also a part of pemmican throughly
dried stones can be pounded into flour, be sure to roast first
Fruit. makes good jellies and jams
WARNING:
FOLIAGE IS POISONOUS
China Berry
Melia azedarach
Found: Cultivated but
commonly escapes cultivation in east and central Texas
Fruits: September-October
Medical use: Good insect repellent and vermifuge,
anti-parasitic, and has anti-fungal properties.
WARNING:
INTERNAL USE BY PROFESSIONAL PRACTITIONERS ONLY
Chinese Tallow Tree
Sapium sebiferum
Location:: cultivated, but escapes cultivation. Especially
plentiful in Houston and Beaumont
Fruits: Fall
Other use: Wax covered
seeds are used for candle wax
Chinquapin, Allegheny
Castanea pumila
Location: East Texas as far south as Houston, all
but eliminated by the chestnut blight
Fruits: Fall
Medical use: Nut capsule
stops flux, 1 scruple for a man, 10 grains for a child
Green or dried leaves can be used for whooping cough, nagging
distressing cough, controlling the paroxysm, frequent hiccups,
irritable or excitable respiratory problems. When combined with
Lobelia Lobelia inflata and Blue Cohosh Caulophyllum thalictroides.
Tincture of leaves gathered in summer treats diarrhea and whooping
cough.
Dose: 1 oz to 1 pt boiling
water infused for 15 min. A wineglass full three times
per day, children get half that amount. Fluid extract is 10
drops 3 times pre day and half for children.
Culinary use: roast the
nuts and then crack them out of the shells, the nuts can be
eaten as is, made into flour, or dipped into sugar syrup to make
candied nuts.
THIS TREE
IS INCREASINGLY UNCOMMON, DO NOT USE UNLESS ABSOLUTELY
NECESSARY
WARNING: DO NOT CONFUSE WITH
THE HORSE CHESTNUT AESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM WHICH HAS BITTER
AND MILDLY POISONOUS FRUIT
Climbing Spiderling
Commicarpus scandens
Location: dry soil on
fence rows, waste grounds, edges of ravines, gravely
valleys, chaparral thickets to altitudes of 4,500 ft in southwest
and west Texas.
Medical use: decoction
of leaves treats venereal disease
Condalia, Bluewood
Condalia hookeri
Location: in dry soil
in central, southern, and western Texas. On the coast
from Matagorda County to Cameron County, frequent along the lower
Rio Grande River. In central region the greatest concentration is
in the limestone plateau area and west to the Pecos River, Less common
west of the Pecos and north into the Panhandle.
Fruits: intervals during
the summer
Culinary use: makes good
jellies
Other use: wood makes
a blue dye
Condalia, Lote-bush
Condalia obtusifolia
Location: south Texas
plains, Edwards plateau, and Trans-Pecos area
Fruits: June
Medical use: treats sores
and wounds
Culinary use: fruit is
edible
Other use: Roots are used
as a soap substitute
Condalia, Southwestern
Candalia lycioides
Location: on dry hills
and desert flats ascending to an altitude of 5,000 feet
in extreme west Texas
Medical use: an eye treatment
was made from the roots
Culinary use: The fruit
is edible
Other use: Bark of the
root is substituted for soap in Mexico
Coral Bean, Cockspur
Erythrina crista-galli
Location: Usually cultivated
but escapes in coastal Texas
Medical use: The beans
cause a curare-like paralyzing action when administered
intravenously. Should be studied further for clinical use.
Coyotillo, Humboldt
Karwinkia humboldtiana
Location: dry plains and
prairies in south Texas and southern Edwards plateau
Medical use: a decoction of leaves and roots are used
to treat fevers
WARNING: SEEDS
ARE POISONOUS AND ARE REPORTED TO CAUSE PARALYSIS IN THE
LIMBS OF HUMANS AND DOMESTIC LIVESTOCK
Crabb-apple, Prairie
Pyrus ioensis
Location: central, and
eastern half of Texas
Fruits: September-October
Culinary use: Can be eaten
raw but is very sour, used for astringents and vinegar.
Pectin for making jams and jellies can be extracted by using under
ripe fruit, barely cover with water and simmer until soft then
strain.
Creeper, Virginia
Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Location: widespread in
Texas
Medical use: bark is used
for a tonic, expectorant, and remedy for dropsy.
WARNING: BERRIES CAN
BE FATAL WHEN EATEN IN QUANTITYS
Creeping, Skyflower
Duranta repens
Location: escapes from
cultivation in the lower Rio Grande valley
Fruits:
Medical use: remedy for
fevers
Creosote Bush, Coville Larrea
tridentata
Location: south Texas plains,
Trans-Pecos, and southern Edwards plateau in desert and
dry soil.
Medical use: Tea of leaves are
used to reduce cancers, skin conditions, arthritis, backache,
hair growth, eyesight, bowel elimination but not a laxative ,
kidney infections, prostate trouble, sinus, stomach cancer,
throat, bronchial problems, weight loss problems. Boiled leaves
are used externally to treat bruises rheumatism and pain. Heated
and sharpened sticks are inserted into tooth cavities for pain.
Dose: 1 tbs. of leaves and small
twigs to 1 pt of boiling water in a screw top jar, let
stand overnight, drink 1/4 of the liquid 1/2 hour before
bedtime
Culinary use: the buds are pickled
and eaten by Mexican Indians
Croton, Cortes Croton cortesianus
Location: Southern and western
Texas in Cameron and Hildago Counties
Medical use: Plant is known in
Mexico as "Palillo" is used as a caustic in the treatment
of skin diseases
Croton, Fragrant Croton suaveolens
Location: Ledges and clefts of
rock on dry slopes of hills. In Fort Davis, Jeff Davis
County, and in Val Verde County. Medical use: Known in Mexico
as "Encinillo" and used for baths during convalescence from
fevers
Croton, Leather Weed Croton corymbulosus
Location: usually on sandy mesas
or dry rocky slopes at altitudes of 2,000-6,000 feet
in the Trans-Pecos
Culinary use: Tea can be made
from the foliage
Croton, New Mexican Croton neomexicanus
Location: in western Texas on
low rocky hills and plains at altitudes of 4,000-5,800
feet.
Medical use: Root bark is used
in Mexico as a purgative
Croton, Mexican Croton ciliato-glandulosus
Location: the Mexican desert
plateau area at altitudes of 3,000-4,500 feet 3 1/2 miles
southwest of Roma in Starr County. Medical use: the leaves
are used in Mexico as a purgative and febrifuge
Currant, Rothrock Ribes wolfii
Location: in damp woods in the
aspen and conifer belts of 6,000-12,000 feet in Trans-Pecos
Fruit: August
Culinary use: fruit can be made
into jams, jellies, and meat sauces
Cypress, bald Taxodium distichum
Location: found in eastern and
southern parts of the state both wild and cultivated.
Usually near a good water source lake, river, swamp
Fruit: October-December
Medical use: cone resin is an
analgesic for wounds
Cypress, Bald Montezuma Taxodium
mucronatum
Location: Lower Rio Grande river,
uncommon
Medical use: Resin is for wounds,
ulcers, cutaneous diseases, toothache and gout Bark is
an emmenagogue and diuretic Leaves are resolutive and treats
itch Pitch is used for bronchitis and chest affections, derived
by putting fresh chips into a pit, covering with earth and then
fired.
Cyrilla, American Cyrilla racemiflora
Location: in swamps on the Gulf
coastal plain in eastern Texas
Medical use: the spongy lower
bark is used as a styptic
Dogwood, Flowering Cornus florida
Location: statewide and also
cultivated
Medical use: dried bark of the
root is used as a powder or fluid extract for intermittent
fever
Other use: dye is made from the
roots
Dogwood, Rough Leaf Cornus drummondii
Location: edges of streams, thickets,
and fence rows in central, southern, and east Texas
Medical use: bark is used to
wash mangy dogs
Elder, American Sambucus canadensis
Location: rich moist soils along
streams and in low areas. East and northeast Texas
Flowers: May-July
Medical use: leaves are used
as a poultice for sores and tumors. Flowers are used
as a diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge, and as an alternative
for rheumatism and syphilis. Fruit is used as a laxative.
Culinary use: flowers are used
as a flavoring in drinks by soaking in water. also improve
the flavor of plain flours. fruit is made into pies, wines,
and jellies
Other use: dried leaves are used
as an insecticide, bark is used as a black dye.
Elder, Mexican Sambucus mexicana
Location: along low places, ditches,
and streams at altitudes of 1,000-4,000 feet in the desert
or desert grassland.
Flowers: April-June also after
rains
Medical use: flowers are a gentle
excitant and sudorific, Fruit is a diaphoretic and an
alternative for rheumatism and syphilis. Inner bark is a hydragogue
cathartic and in large doses a emetic. Also used for dropsy
and epilepsy.
Fruit: makes excellent wines
and pies and is often dried for further use by Indians.
Other use: Stems make a dark
dye
Elm, Slippery Ulmus rubra
Location: Northeast, north central,
and central Texas
Medical use: Inner bark is chewed
as a thirst quencher and throat soother. also dried, powdered
and made into a drink for digestive problems, urinary,
gastric and duodenal ulcers, and gastritis. Tincture of fresh
bark treats constipation, deafness, hemorrhoids, herpes, pain,
and syphilis. Also added as a soothing element to cough mixtures.
Inner bark is harvested in spring, dried and powdered for internal
use
Culinary Use: The inner bark can make a good
tea when steeped in hot water for approx. 15 minutes. It alson
can be dried and ground into a flour.
Ephedra, Erect Ephedra antisyphilitica
Location: Dry soils and gravely
plains, rocky hillsides, old fields and pastures and
calcareous slopes of Central and Western Texas.
Medical use: Used to treat syphilis.
Eupatorium, Blue Eupatorium azureum
Location: in caliche soil in
southwest Texas
Medical use: used for astringent
poultices
Eupatorium, Christmas Bush Eupatorium
conyzoides
Location: in rocky or clay soils
in Texas along the Rio Grande River in Jim Wells, Kleberg,
Nueces, Hildago, and Cameron Counties.
Medical use: leaves are used
for an emmenagogue
Euphorbia, Wax Euphorbia antisyphilitica
Location: Gravely limestone hills
of the Texas Big Bend area.
Medical use: Known as Candelilla
in Mexico it is used as a purgative and treating venereal
disease
Other use: Stems are boiled to
obtain a wax
Fiddlewood, Berlandier Citharexylum
berlandieri
Location: Confined to the valley
of the lower Rio Grande Valley in Cameron, Hidalgo, and
Willacy Counties. One mile from Boca Chica Beach below Brownsville,
Texas
Medical use: used as a cold remedy
in Mexico
Fig, Common Ficus carica
Location: Cultivated but escapes
in frost free area along road sides
Medical use: Ripe figs are nutritious,
laxitive and demulcent. Unripe can be an irritant. Latex
of tree is anthelmintic against internal parasites
Four-wing Saltbush Atriplex canescens
Location: many soil types in
western Texas
Fruit: august-September
Culinary use: SW indians grind
seeds to use for baking powder in bread making
Fremont Screw-bean Prosopis pubescens
Location: In west Texas on the
alluvial bottom lands of the upper Rio Grande River
and its tributaries from Uvalde County wets to El Paso County.
Medical use: the powdered root
bark was used by the Pima to treat wounds Culinary use:
The beans were ground into pinole meal and made into bread,
or was steeped for a cooling drink. Crude syrup can be made
by boiling down the beans.
Gooseberry, Georgia Ribes curvatum
Location: in dry rocky soil,
but rare in Texas
Fruit: July
Culinary use: fruit can
be made into jams, jellies, and meat sauces
Grape, Canyon Vitis arizonica
Location: ravines and gulches
at altitudes of 2,000-7,500 feet in western Texas
Fruit: July-August
Culinary use: Pueblo indians,
formerly cultivated the vine and ate the fruit fresh or
dried
Grape, Long's Vitis longii
Location: along sandy banks and
bluffs, nearly always in ravines and gulches tributary
to larger streams along the Red, Canadian, Cimarron, and Arkansas
rivers, and through the Panhandle
Fruit: July-August
Culinary use: The fruit is sometimes
made into pies in the Panhandle area. The underripe fruit
is an exelent source for pectin. Young leavesbest in spring and
before the summer heat starts can be boiled for 10-15 minutes
and served with butter, or they can be lightly boiled and then used
to wrap meats when baking in an oven or on coals be sure to use several
layers if using coals
Grape, Mustang Vitis candicans
Location: of the greatest size
in the bottomlands of limy Cretaceous hills of southwestern
Texas, also on central, northern, and eastern Texas.
Fruit: June-August
Culinary use: The grapes are
somewhat sour but are edible, may cause skin irritations
in some. The skin is rather sour, but i've found squeezing the
pulp out of the center is a rather nice snack in the summer. When
cooking with the fruit be sure to add sugar. The underripe fruit
is an exelent source for pectin. Young leaves best in spring and before
the summer heat starts can be boiled for 10-15 minutes and served
with butter, or they can be lightly boiled and then used to wrap meats
when baking in an oven or on coals be sure to use several layers if
using coals
Grape, Summer Vitis aestivalis
Location: warm sandy soil, dry
woods, thickets, and along roadsides
Fruit: September-October
Culinary use: The fruit makes
excellent preserves, jellies, and wines
Greenbrier, Lanceleaf Smilax
lanceolata
Location: rich ground, thickets,
fields, edges of ditches or streams in East Texas
Culinary use: tubers were beaten
to a pulp and then strained and further ground to make
a meal for dough or for a cooling drink. Young shoots can be used
as cooked greens or in a salad *besure to remove the thorns first.
Roots can be used to substitute for gelatin, wash throughly then pound
to seperate starches from the fibers, the reddish powder left over
makes a mild jelly when combined with warm water. The powder can also
be used to thicken gravies when combined with another flour or starch.
Greenbrier, Laurel Smilax laurifolia
Location: sandy, acid swamps
or wet woods in East Texas
Culinary use: tubers were beaten
to a pulp and then strained and further ground to make
a meal for dough or for a cooling drink. Young shoots can be used
as cooked greens or in a salad *besure to remove the thorns first.
Roots can be used to substitute for gelatin, wash throughly then pound
to seperate starches from the fibers, the reddish powder left over
makes a mild jelly when combined with warm water. The powder can also
be used to thicken gravies when combined with another flour or starch.
Hackberry, Common Celtis occidentalis
Location: primarily in east Texas
Fruits: September
Medical use: Bark is a cathartic
and a anthelmintic Tincture is prepared from inner bark
gathered when the tree is in full foliage, pounded to a pulp
then weighed. The pulp is then mixed with alcohol and let stand
for eight days. The is separated by decanting, pressing, and
mass filtration.
Culinary use: fruit is edible
and quite sweet
Hardy Yellow Trumpet Tecoma stans
Location: well drained dry soil
in full sun in western and southern Texas
Medical use: decoction of the
plant is used for stomach cramps and diabetes. Roots are
used as a diuretic, tonic, anti syphilitic, and anthelmintic.
Culinary use: Beer is prepared
form the root
Hawthorn, May Crataegus opaca
Location: wet soil of east Texas
Fruits: May
Cuilinary use: The fruit is a bit bitter raw,
but can be made into good jams and jellies, no need to add pectin.
A tea cab be made by steeping the fruit in hot water along with
some mint
Heimia, Willow-Leaf Heimia salicifolia
Location: usually along streams or resacas in southwest
Texas
Medical use: plant is used as an emetic, anti syphilitic,
hemostatic, febrifuge, diuretic, laxative, vulnerary, sudorific,
tonic, and astringent. If the juice or a decoction is taken
internally it is said to produce a mild and pleasant intoxication
during which all objects appear to be yellow
Hickory, Black Carya texana
Location: east Texas Pineywoods and post oak savanna
in sandy soil
Fruit: September-October
Culinary use: Milk can be made by pounding then boiling the
nuts Black salt can be made by boiling ashes down to a powder.
Use nuts as a substitute for walnuts in recipies. The sap
can be made into syrup.
Honeysuckle, Western White Lonicera
albiflora
Location: in central and western Texas northward into Oklahoma
Fruit: October-November
Medical use: Fruit is used as an emetic and cathartic.
Hop Tree Ptelea trifoliata
Location: statewide, but mostly in east and central
Texas in dry environs
fruit: August-September
Medical use: Bark is used to treat dyspepsia, asthma, phthisis,
syphilis, diarrhea, rheumatism, epilepsy, fever, a bitter
stomic, and as a mild tonic. The bark is gathered after the fruit
is ripe but before the leaves start to turn, a tincture can be prepared
then separated by pressure and filtration.
Culinary use: fruit can substitute for hops in beer making.
Jerusalem-thorn Parkinsonia aculeata
Location: moist sandy soils in the south Texas Plains
and southern Edwards plateau, also cultivated as an ornament
Medical use: Leaves are made into tea to treat diabetes,
epilepsy, as a sudorific and abortificant, also as a febrifuge.
Culinary use: seeds can be pounded into a flour to make bread
Jessamine, Carolina Gelsemium
sempervirens
Location: sandy moist soil of eastern and southern Texas
Medical use: dried rhizome administered as a tincture
treats facial neuralgia, rheumatism, and gonorrhea.
WARNING: SHOULD BE USED BY PROFESSIONAL
PHYSICIANS ONLY,
OVERDOSE HAS RESULTED IN VERTIGO, AND
DEATH.
Juniper, Alligator Juniperus
deppeana
Location: High mountains of Trans-Pecos at an altitude
of 4,000-8,000 feet in the Chisos, Davis, Eagle, and Limpia
Mountains of West Texas
Medical use: Leaves are a local remedy for rheumatism and
neuralgia in nearby Chihuahua, Mexico.
Juniper, One-Seed Juniperus monosperma
Location: Lower hills approaching taller mountains at
altitudes of 3,000-7,000 feet
Fruit: September
Culinary use: The seeds can be ground into flour
Juniper, rocky Mountain Juniperus
scopulorum
Location: in rocky soil in the panhandle and Guadalupe
mountains at altitudes up to 6,000 ft.
Medical use: Tea from small twigs in large amounts is
a diuretic
Culinary use: Berries are used to flavor gin, roasted as
a coffee substitute, made into meal or mush cakes, flavoring sauerkraut,
beer making berries + barley and as a substitute for pepper. Tea
can be made from the twigs. Crushed berries are good for
seasoning lamb.
Kentucky Coffee-tree Gymnocladus
dioica
Location: in low rich soil in the northern gulf coast
plain
Culinary use: seeds are poisonous but when roasted make a
coffee substitute sorry, it's decaf
WARNING: THE SEEDS ARE POISONOUS IN THE RAW STATE
Krameria, Gray's Krameria grayi
Location: dry soil of barren hillsides and desert
areas at altitudes of 1,000-4,000 feet in the Trans-Pecos
Medical use: Root infusion is used by the Pima as a remedy
for sores
Other use: Mexicans use root bark for a yellow or reddish
brown dye
Krameria, Little-leaf Krameria
parvifolia
Location: In western Texas on dry rocky slopes and plains
at altitudes of 500-5,000 feet
Medical use: A decoction of the plant was used as an eyewash
and a remedy for sores
Other use: Makes a brown or red dye
Lantana, Texas
Lantana horrida
Location: grows mostly in sandy soil abundant in coastal
areas and scattered across central Texas to the Rio Grande and
north to Cook and Archer Counties
Medical use: A decoction of the leaves is used for a stomach
tonic. Also used for snake bites, a strong decoction is taken internally
and a poultice of leaves is applied to the bite
Lime Prickly-ash
Zanthoxylum fagara
Location: along the gulf coast from Harris co. to the
Rio Grande valley
Medical use: Extracts of the bark and leaves are used as a
nerve tonic and sudorific
Culinary use: powdered bark and leaves are a condiment
Other use: powdered bark is a yellow dye
Locust, Common Honey
Gleditsia triacanthos
Location: in Pineywoods, upper post oak Savannah and Blackland
prairies in moist soil
Fruits: September-October
Culinary use: young pods are edible and very sweet but become
bitter with age
WARNING: BE SURE NOT
TO CONFUSE THE PODS WITH THOSE OF THE KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE WHICH
ARE POISIONOUS
Locust, New Mexico
Robinia neomexicana
Location: moist soil along streams in the sun at altitudes
of 4,000-8,500 feet in the conifer belt in Trans-Pecos region.
Also known as U-a de Gato.
Medical use: Used as a remedy for rheumatism by the Hopi
Long Stalk Green Thread
Thelesperma longipes
Location: dry hills and mesas, slopes, and canyons at
altitudes of 5,000-6,000 feet in western Texas in the Guadalupe
Mountains and perhaps elsewhere.
Culinary use: used for tea in Mexico
Madrone, Texas
Arbutus texana
Location: central Texas and isolated patches in the
Trans-Pecos on limestone or igneous hills
Fruits
Medical use: used medicinally as an astringent in Mexico
Culinary use: Fruit is edible
Magnolia, Sweet-bay
Magnolia virginiana
Location: low, wet, acid, sandy soil of Texas and is
occasionally cultivated
Culinary use: leaves are used for flavoring meats Other
use: flowers are used for their fragrance
Mahonia, Laredo
Mahonia trifoilata
Location: dry hillsides over most of central, south,
and west Texas
Fruits: ripens in June
Culinary use: seeds when roasted make a coffee substitute
Other use: yellow dye is made from wood and roots
Malpighia, Barbados Cherry
Malpighia glabra
Location: southern Texas in Cameron and Hildago Counties,
also cultivated
Medical use: used as an astringent and febrifuge, high in
tannin
Culinary use: fruit is edible and made into preserves
Manzanita, Point Leaf
Arctostaphylos pungens
Location: rocky mesas and dry slopes at altitudes of 3,000-8,000
feet in west Texas
Fruit: July-April
Culinary use: fruit is often making into jelly
Maple, Box-elder
Acer negundo
Location: found near streams in east, north central,
and central Texas
Culinary use: can be tapped for sugar, though it is inferior
to sugar maple
Maple, Sugar
Acer saccharum
Location: east Texas
Culinary use: sap can be used for syrup, fermented, and
vinegar seeds are edible after removing wings, soaking,
boiling, and roasting Inner bark cam be pounded into flour
Maple, Big Tooth
Acer grandidentatum
Location: valleys, canyons, banks of mountain streams
at altitudes of 4,000-6,000 feet in the Guadalupe, Davis, and
Chisos Mountains of the Trans-Pecos region
Culinary use: sap is used for sugar making
Maple, Florida Sugar
Acer barbatum
Location: in moist rich soil in Texas
Culinary use: Seasons are not distinct enough in the south for
proper sap flow, but sugar can be produced from the sap, about
1 lb for every 15 quarts
Mayten, Guttapercha
Maytenus phyllanthoides
Location: on sandy bluffs on tidal beaches on the coasts
of Texas
Medical use: leaves are used as a remedy for scurvy and toothaches.
Gum is substituted for guttapercha and used to bind splints
for broken limbs.
Mesquite, Honey
Prosopis glandulosa
Location: found in dry areas, overtaking grasslands
quickly, grown statewide except in the far east Pineywoods
Fruits: August-September
Culinary use: Legumes can be eaten contain almost 30% sugar
or pounded into pinole meal and baked or fermented into alcohol
and were an important of the southwestern indians diet. Gum
is made into candy
Other use: beans are used to make black dye, mend pottery
and to make gun arabic
Milkberry, David
Chiococca alba
Location: southwestern Texas in lower Rio Grande
valley area
Medical use: used to treat dropsy, venereal disease,
and rheumatism. Cahinca extracted from the bark is an emeto-cathartic
capable of producing serious gastro-intestinal disturbances,
diuretic, and purgative, and is used by the natives of Brazil as
a remedy for snakebite, rheumatism, and dropsy.
Dose: 20 grains-1 drachm of powdered bark
Mulberry
Morus var.
Location: Red Morus rubra found in rich moist soil
Black Morus nigra old gardens, roadsides, thickets and waste
grounds, also cultivated White Morus alba escapes cultivation
Texas Morus microphylla West of the Colorado River on dry
limestone hills
Fruits: May-August
Culinary use: the fruit is edible, makes good jellies and
jams pectin must be added, dried berries can be used in muffins and
cakes becareful, they tend to spoil easily in the presence of moisture
young leading shoots can be eaten but must be boiled for at least
20 minutes
Other use: inner bark is made into cloth and heavy paper
WARNING: UNRIPE FRUIT
AND RAW SHOOTS CONTAIN HALLUCINOGENS
Mulberry, Common Paper
Broussonetia papyrifera
Location: statewide but escapes cultivation
Other use: cloth or thick paper can be made by pounding
bark with a wooden mallet
Naked Seed Weed
Selloa glutinosa
Location: rocky soils of dry hillsides and arid grasslands
at altitudes of 2,000-6,000 feet in western Texas.
Medical use: a decoction of the plant is used as a remedy
for diarrhea and a solution of the gum is used externally as
a remedy for rheumatism and ulcers.
Nightshade, Mullein
Solanum verbascifolium
Location: in the lower Rio Grande Valley and around old
resacas at Olmito in Cameron County
Medical use: leaves were heated and applied to the forehead
for headaches. Also applied as a poultice to ulcers and boils.
WARNING: THE BERRIES
ARE VERY POISIONOUS
Oak
Quercus var.
Location: statewide in various species
Fruit: August-October
Medical use: Bark collected in early spring is used as an
internal astringent, diarrhea, mucous discharge, and hemorrhage.
Tea is used to strengthen outer blood vessels White Oak bark Quercus
alba treats goiter, nasal drip and improves digestion A solution
of acorns, bark and milk helped to treat ulcerated bladder
Dose: 1 oz bark to 1 qt water and boiled down to 1 pt, taken by
the glassful
Culinary use: acorns are edible after leaching 15-30 min. in boiling
water to get rid of tannin Acorns can be deep fried, ground into a
flour and then either used on its own or added to other flour to add protein,
or dried till bitter for use as a coffee substitute White oak acorns are
the best and sweetest
Other use: the bark can be used for tannin in tanning hides
Ocotillo
Fouquieria splendens
Location: dry, rocky, hillsides, or desert flats in
western and southern Texas
Medical use: Cough medicine is made from the flowers, powdered
root is for dressing wounds and swellings of the Apache indians
Culinary use: Flowers and seed pods are eaten by the Cahuilla
Indians as well as a beverage from the flowers
Other use: Bark contains gum, resin, wax and was used for waxing
leather
Paloverde, Blue
Cercidium floridum
Location: Trans-Pecos
Culinary use: the pods and seeds are ground into a meal
Pawpaw, Common
Asimina triloba
Location: rich soil of the east Texas bottomlands
Fruit: autumn
Medical use: a tonic and stimulant
Dose: coarsely powered fresh ripe seeds are covered with
five parts by weight of alcohol and allowed to stand for eight
days in a well stoppered dark bottle, then the tincture is
filtered off.
Culinary use: the fruit is used for deserts or eaten raw with
cream, high in carbohydrates.
WARNING: HANDLING
THE FRUIT MAY CAUSE SKIN IRRITATIONS
Pear, Common
Pyrus communis
Location: often cultivated in Texas and commonly
escapes
Fruit: July-October
Culinary use: fruit is edible in many raw or cooked forms
Pecan
Carya illinoensis
Location: in riverbottoms, concentrated in east and
south central Texas, also grown as an ornamental
Fruit: September-October
Medical use: Leaves and bark are used as an astringent
Culinary use: nuts are edible
Pepper tree, California
Schinus molle
Location: found in dry sandy soil occasionally in west
Texas
Medical use: Powdered bark or its decoction is used to
treat swollen feet, as a astringent, and balsamic. Gum is chewed
and has purgative and vulneary properties. In Mexico it is
applied as an emulsion to the eyes to hinder the development
of cataracts, and to treat genito-urinary and venereal diseases.
Leaves are chewed to harden the gums and heal ulcers of the mouth
Fruit is used as a substitute for cubeb in the treatment of gonorrhea,
and a syrup is prepared for bronchitis.
Culinary use: Seeds are sometimes used to adulterate pepper.
Fruit is ground and mixed with atole or other substances to form
beverages. An intoxication liquor "copalote" can be made by fermenting
the fruit pulp for one or two days,
Persimmon, Common
Diospyros virginiana
Location: south Texas plains and Edwards plateau in
many soil types, west to the valley of the Colorado river.
Fruit: August-February but vary variable
Medical use: bark is used as an astringent
Culinary use: fruit is edible and is very high in carbohydrates
and acidic, the native americans would mix the pulp with crushed
corn to make into a kind of bread
Persimmon, Texas
Diospyros texasn
Location: central and west Texas on rocky hillsides,
abundant in Edwards plateau. When near the coast usually
on soils with lime composition because of the marine shells.
Reaching its easternmost limit in Harris County near the coast.
Fruit: August-February but variable as to when
Culinary use: smaller than the common persimmon but is still
edible
Other use: juice is used for dying skins black
Pine, Pinyon
Pinus edulis
Location: in Culberson and Hudspeth Co. at altitudes
of 4,000-7,000 ft
Fruit: August-September
Culinary use: Seeds are edible and can be used for cooking. The
inner bark of pines can be dried and made into flour, though I would
reccomend using it only in emergency situations. Tea made from the
needles are high in vitamin A and C, young needles have the best
flavor.
Pine, var.
Pinus var.
Location: Statewide and represented by several species
Culinary use: The inner bark of pines can be dried and made
into flour, though I would reccomend using it only in emergency
situations. Tea made from the needles are high in vitamin A and C, young
needles have the best flavor.
Plum, American
Prunus americana
Location: Found statewide in several varieties
Fruit: June-October
Culinary use: fruit makes good jellies, preserves, and
eaten raw or cooked. Also can be used for wine making.
Plum, Creek
Prunus rivularis
Location: along streams in sunny sits. River valleys
of Texas along the Colorado, Guadalupe, and Leona rivers.
Fruit: June
Culinary use: fruit is edible
Plum, Flatwoods
Prunus umbellata
Location: sandy soils of Texas
Fruit: June - August
Culinary use: fruit is used for jams and jellies
Plum, Oklahoma
Prunus gracilis
Location: found on dry sandy soils in the sun of north
Texas
Fruits: June-August
Culinary use: the fruit is edible, but rather sour
Plum, Reverchon Hog
Prunus reverchonii
Location: well drained moist limestone soils in the sun,
central and northern Texas
Fruit: July-September
Culinary use: fruit is edible, but of poor quality. Drought
resistant
Plumbago, Climbing
Plumbago scandens
Location: southwest Texas
Medical use: a decoction of the plant is used as an emetic
WARNING: PLANT
CAN PRODUCE BLISTERS ON THE SKIN
Poreleaf, Shrubby
Porophyllum scoparium
Location: rocky banks and plains of southwestern Texas
Medical use: used by the natives as a remedy for fevers,
rheumatism, and affections of the stomach and intestines.
Porliera, Texas
Porliera angustifolia
Location: in south Texas plains, southern Edwards plateau,
and Trans-Pecos areas
Medical use: Extracts of the root are used for rheumatism,
venereal disease, and as a sudorific
Other use: bark of roots is used as a soap for woolens
Prickly Ash, Hercules-club
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis
Location: eastern third of Texas in woodlands, uncommon also
cultivated
fruits: august-September
Medical use: bark is chewed to numb oral tissues and increase
salivation Powdered bark is made into a rheumatic liniment Fruits
are antispasmodic, stimulant, carminative, and acts on the
mucous tissues Tincture treats hepatic and pancreatic sluggishness,
chronic muscular rheumatism, lumbago, scrofula, temporary paralysis,
female troubles, typhus, typhoid pneumonia, and syphilis.
Dose: 1 tsp. bark to 1 c boiling water, one mouthful throughout
the day. Tincture: 5-20 drops in water. Rheumatic liniment: 1 oz
powdered bark in 4 oz of oil Rheumatic: decoction of 1 oz in 1 qt of
water, 1 pt per day Tympanitis: 1/2 - 1 drachm of tincture in sweetened
water hourly
Prickly Ash, Lime
Zanthoxylum fagara
Location: Southwestern and coastal Texas to Harris
and Galveston Counties, abundant in lower Rio Grande valley
Medical use: Extracts of the bark and leaves are taken as a
sudorific and nerve tonic.
Culinary use: Powdered bark and leaves are used as a condiment
Other use: Bark and leaves make a yellow dye
Privet Lippia
Lippia ligustrina
Location: rocky limestone soil at altitudes of 1,000-4,000
feet in southern, central, and west Texas
Flower: Intermittently March-November especially after rains
Medical use: Leaves and flowers are used to treat diseases
of the urinary tract
Randia, Texas
Randia aculeata
Location: in south Texas along the Rio Grande valley
in sandy or clay loams
Fruit: September-October
Medical use: the fruit is a remedy for dysentery
Other use: the fruit is also a blue dye
Redbud, Eastern
Cercis canadensis
Location: east, central Texas and southern Trans-Pecos
area in rich soil along streams and in bottomlands
Medical use: bark is astringent and used to treat dysentery
Culinary use: leaves are edible raw, pickled, or fried, young
pods can be sauted and served with butter. The flowers can be added
to salads
Rubber Plant
Jatropha dioica
Location: two varieties are found on dry slopes, mesas,
and rocky limestone bluffs. Sessile flower is the most common
in the southwest, while Grass leaf is confined to the Trans-Pecos
region
Medical use: Juice has astringent properties and hardens the
gums, for skin eruptions, sores, dysentery, hemorrhoids, and
venereal diseases, to prepare a gargle for sore throat, as a wash
to restore and give luster to hair, and to remove stains from
teeth Roots are chewed for toothaches
Other use: plant yields a dark red dye, but may damage the cloth
Sage Brush, Big
Artemisia tridentata
Location: dry and stony soils usually in deep soil
pockets. Widely distributed in the west.
Medical use: plant is a diaphoretic, antiperiodic or laxative.
Culinary use: Cahuilla Indians of California ground the
seeds into meal which was then made into some sort of pinole.
Sage Brush, Fringed
Artemisia frigida
Location: on dry, stony soil to an altitude of 7,000
feet in western Texas
Medical use: used as a diuretic and mild cathartic. Leaves
contain an essential oil that is antiseptic.
Culinary use: Roast the leaves with sweet corn to flavor it.
Sage Brush, Sand
Artemisia filifolia
Location: in sandy soils to an altitude of 6,000 feet
in the lower panhandle.
Medical use: A decoction of the leaves is used for intestinal
worms and affections of the stomach.
Saltwort, Maritime
Batis maritima
Location: Sandy beaches, mud flats and saline marshes
near the sea. From Galveston Island, Texas through Matagorda
Island, to Corpus Christi, Texas.
Medical use: Treats ulcers and diuretic
Culinary use: Leaves have a salty flavor in salads
Other use: ashes are used for making soap and glass
Sassafras
Sassafras albidum
Location: in east Texas Pineywoods in sandy woods and
disturbed ground
Medical use: Roots and bark are made into tea and used to
treat rheumatism, varicose ulcers, menstrual cramps, skin
diseases, and as an alcohol soberant. An oil can be prepared
from the root and bark and is used to relieve toothaches and
is used in the preparation of liniments for bruises and swelling
Culinary use: Leaves are use as spice for cooking and can
be rubbed into a fine powder for filet. Tea can be made from the roots
by washing them and then leaving the roots to saok in water like you
would make sun tea untill the water turns reddish brown, then sweeten
to taste.
WARNING: SASSAFRAS HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE
POTENTIALLY CARCINOGENIC AND CAUTION IS ADVISED
WARNING: SASSAFRAS SHOULD NOT BE USED BY
THIN BLOODED PERSONS
Service-berry, Big Bend
Amelanchier denticulata
Location: Chisos Mountains of Brewster County and south into
Mexico
Fruit: May-June
Culinary use: fruit was eaten by the native indians
Other use: The flexible stems were made into canes by the Mexicans
and known as "varitas de apizaco"
Service-berry, Shadblow
Amelanchier arborea
Location: northeast Texas and occasionally cultivated
Fruit: June-July
Culinary use: the berries can be eaten raw or cooked
into pies
Service-berry, Utah
Amelanchier utahensis
Location: in dry canyons, rock slopes, and mountainsides
at altitudes of 4,000-8,000 feet in the Guadalupe Mountians
Fruit: May-June
Culinary use: Fruit can be eaten raw or made into bread.
Often made into a paste and combined with jerked dry meat as an
ingredient in pemmican. Settlers made fruit into puddings and
pies. Watch out because birds and ground squirrels tend to get
most of the fruit before it is ripe.
Silverleaf, Texas
Leucophyllum frutescens
Location: in central, western, and southwestern Texas,
also planted along highways and culverts.
Medical use: used my Mexican indians for chills and fevers
Snakeweed, Broom
Gutierrezia sarothrae
Location: arid rocky plains at altitudes of 2,800-7,000
feet in western Texas
Medical use: decoction of the plant is used for a emmenagogue
and for gastric disturbances
Soapberry, Western
Sapindus saponaria
Location: in moist soils along streams statewide except
the Pineywoods, high plains, and upper south Texas plains
Fruit: September-October
Medical use: Fruit is used to treat renal disorders, rheumatism,
and fevers
Other use: The fruit is used in Mexico as a laundry soap
Sophora, Mescal Bean
Sophora secundiflora
Location: in limestone soils of the Edwards plateau,
south Texas, and parts of the Trans Pecos
Fruit: September
Medical use: The beans are used as a narcotic my native
americans. Very small amounts of powdered seeds was added to a
beverage to produce intoxication, delirium, excitement, and
finally a long sleep.
WARNING: FOR USE BY PROFESSIONAL HERBALISTS
ONLY,
USE IN VERY SMALL AMOUNTS AND UNDER CLOSE
SUPERVISION.
LARGER AMOUNTS ARE DANGEROUS AND POISONOUS
Sophora, Necklace-Pod
Sophora tomentosa
Location: in coastal dunes along the Texas seashore
Medical use: Plant is diuretic, sudorific, and have purgative
properties and is used to treat venereal disease. Roots and
leaves are used to treat cholera
WARNING: SEEDS ARE
POISONOUS AND SHOULD NOT BE USED
Spice Bush
Lindera benzoin
Location: found in low woods and swamps
Fruit: August-September
Medical use: A decoction of the bark, leaves, and berries
is used to treat diaphoresis, act as a febrifuge, tonic, stimulant,
antiperiodic, and anthelmintic. Bark is aromatic and made
into tonics, astringent, stimulants, and chewed Oil of the berries
was used as an embrocation in neuralgic and rheumatic pains.
Tincture preparation: fresh young twigs are gathered before the
buds have burst in the spring and are chopped and pounded to a pulp
and weighed. Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, and
one sixth of the alcohol are mixed with the pulp and then the rest
of the alcohol is added. After stirring well it is placed in a well
stoppered dark glass vial and allowed to stand for eight days. The
tincture is then filtered.
Culinary use: Plant parts are made into tea Powdered fruit can
substitute for allspice
Sotol, Wheeler
Dasyliriun wheeleri
Location: rocky and gravely hillsides or slopes at
altitudes of 3,000-,000 feet in Texas near El Paso
Culinary use: Sotol can be made into an alcoholic drink by
roasting the heads in a pit for 24 hours, then distilling the
expressed juice.
St. Andrew's Cross
Ascyrum hypericoides
Location: usually in sandy soil
Medical use: Extract of the leaves is used as an astringent
and resolutive Seeds have purgative properties
Sumac, Evergreen
Rhus sempervirens
Location: dry rocky soil on the Edwards plateau and
Trans-Pecos area at altitudes of 2,000-7,500 feet
Fruit: September
Medical use: Dried leaves are boiled for asthma relief
Culinary use: Berries are steeped for a cooling drink
Other use: Called Tamaichia by the Comanche, dried leaves are
used to combine with tobacco
Sumac, Flame-leaf and Prairie
Rhus copallina var. lanceolata
Location: moist soil in shade or sun in Trans-Pecos, central,
and north central Texas west of Dallas and Austin and in Palo
Duro canyon
Culinary use: fruit is crushed and mixed with water to make
a cooling drink
Other use: The fruit makes a black dye
Sumac, Skunk-bush
Rhus aromatica
Location: on limestone outcrops in central, northern,
western, and southwestern Texas
Fruit: August-September
Culinary use: Fruit can be eaten or made into a cooling drink
by steeping in water
Sumac, Smooth
Rhus glabra
Location: rich moist soils in east and north central
Texas
Fruit: September-October
Medical use: Dried leaves are boiled for asthma relief, malaria,
fevers, canker sores, and sore throats An injection of bark
infusion or tea when drunk will give relief from leukorrhea, rectal
conditions, chronic diarrhea, and rectal hemorrhage. Berries
and leaves are made into a poultice for skin diseases. Juice of
berries is good for dysentery and urinary problems Tincture treats
debility, diarrhea, dysentery, epistaxis, hemorrhages, headache,
and mouth ulcers. Tincture preparation: fresh bark and root is
gathered, pounded and weighed. Two parts by weight of alcohol is
added and allowed to stand for eight days then separated by filtration
Dose: 1 tsp. steeped for 1/2 hr in 1 c of water. 2-4 cupfuls per
day. In tincture form 10-20 drops
Culinary use: Berries can be dried for winter use and make a good
cooling drink. The juice can substitute for vinegar when making jellies
and other recipes.
Other use: Infusion of berries is used is a black dye for wool
Sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua
Location: low bottomlands of east Texas, also planted
as an ornamental
Medical use: Sap/gum treats catarrhs of genitourinary system,
pulmonary afflictions, consumption, dysentery, and children's
bowel complaints. Sap can also be melted with equal parts
of olive oil to treat inflammations, injuries, and afflictions
of the epidermis. Dose: 1 tsp. of bark to 1 c of boiling water, 1-2
cupfuls per day
Culinary use: the extruded sap from wounds can be chewed like gum.
Tar Bush, American
Flourensia cernua
Location: in dry soil of valleys, mesas, and flats to
an altitude of 5,000 feet in western Texas
Medical use: a decoction of the leaves and flower heads are
a remedy for indigestion and female ailments.
Tree of Heaven
Ailanthus altissima
Location: cultivated but often escapes. Found in
waste places, trash heaps, vacant lots, and other out of the
way places in light moist soils.
Medical use: Bark is used for tapeworm and is a remedy for
dysentery
Tree Tobacco
Nicotiana glauca
Location: Ditches, stream banks, roadsides, waste places
through Texas
Medical use: Leaves are applied as a poultice to relieve
pain, especially headaches.
Other use: good for killing aphids
WARNING: POISONOUS
IF TAKEN INTERNALLY
Treebine, Waterwithe
Cissus sicyoides
Location: southwest Texas
Medical use: Leaves are applied to sores and a decoction
treats rheumatism
Other use: Macerated leaves are used for washing clothes
and fruit is a blue dye
Viburnum, Blackhaw
Viburnum prunifolium
Location: east Texas, but very uncommon
Fruit: August-September
Medical use: powdered bark of the root or stems used for
uterine colic and as a general antispasmodic, also relaxes
the uterine muscle.
Culinary use: the fruit is edible and sweet, high in vitamin
C.
Walnut, Eastern Black
Juglans nigra
Location: eastern half of Texas along streams, also
cultivated for nuts
Fruit: September-October Medical use: Tincture of leaves
or green fruit rind treats acne, anus burning of, auxiliary glands
suppuration of, chancre, ecthyma, eyes pain over, favus, flatulence,
headache, herpes, herpes progenitalis, levitation sensation
of, menorrhagia, puroura, ringworm, scurvy, spleen pain in, syphilis.
Tea treats scrofula, ulcers, wounds, gargle, and rickets. Externally
it is used for cleansing wounds and ulcers, also skin diseases
and tuberculosis. Rind of green fruit removes ringworm and tetters,
and treats diphtheria. Distilled fresh walnuts in alcohol calms hysteria,
cerebral, and pregnant vomiting.
Dose: Of tincture 1-2 tsp every 20-30 minutes till relieved. Of tea
1 tsp of inner bark, leaves, or rinds cut small or granulated, to 1 c of
boiling water. Drink 1-4 c a day often, a large mouthful at a time.
Culinary use: The fruit when powdered makes a rich flour Oil can substitute
for oil or butter when cooking
Wax-Mallow, Drummond
Malvaviscus drummondii
Location: sandy, low grounds along streams on the coastal
plains.
Fruit: August-September
Medical use: Leaves are used as an emollient, flowers are used
in Mexico in a decoction for digestive tract inflammation and
as an emmenagogue
Culinary use: fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, and has a mealy
taste
Wax Myrtle
Myrica pensylvanica
Location: Sandy, boggy soils in East Texas but rare.
Specimens have been collected in Angelina Co. State Park, Boykin
Springs and from the banks of the San Jacinto River near Humble,
Texas
Medical use: contains myricine acid Bark stimulate and astringent,
large doses are emetic also treats diarrhea, jaundice, and scrofula
bark should be gathered in the fall, cleanse and separate with
a hammer, dry completely and keep in a dark cool dry place in a sealed
container. Treats mucous accumulation in the alimentary canal. which
is a good breeding ground for Externally the powdered bark is used
to stimulate indolent ulcers, and as a decoction for gargle. An injection
for chronic inflammation of the throat and leukorrhea.
Culinary use: Berries substitute for bay leaves
White Fringe-tree
Location: east Texas Pineywoods in moist soil and woodlands
Medical use: bark is said to have diuretic properties and
used as a fever remedy in infusion form
Preparation: fresh bark is gathered and pounded to a pulp. then
two parts by weight of alcohol is taken and on sixth of it is
mixed and then the rest is added. Let sit for eight days and then
filtered by pressure.
White Popinac, Lead-tree
Leucaena leucocephala
Location: found in lower Rio Grande valley and Cameron Co.
escaping from cultivation
Medical use: Seeds are reported to have emmenagogic and abortive
properties
Culinary use: seeds are cooked and eaten with rice
Willow, Desert
Chilopsis linearis
Location: in desert washes in Trans-Pecos and western
Edwards plateau
Flowers: June-September
Medical use: decoction of flowers is used for coughs and bronchial
disturbances
Willow, Gulf Black
Salix nigra
Location: statewide in wet soil, except in the high
plains region. Concentrated on the Brazos, San Bernard and
Colorado rivers.
Medical use: Tincture of bark treated diarrhea, emissions,
fever, gonorrhea, and impotence Poultice simmered powdered
bark good for gangrene and external ulcers
Dose: about 3 grains
Willow, Yew Leaf
Salix taxifolia
Location: found on rivers in the Trans-Pecos at altitudes
of 3,000-6,000 ft.
Medical use: bark is a remedy for malaria
Wisteria, Kentucky
Wisteria macrostachya
Location: in low wet woods or on the edges of swamps
Culinary use: Pioneers used the fresh flowers in salads
and mixed them with batter to make fritters.
Witch Hazel, Common
Hamamelis virginiana
Location: southeast Texas and a small concentration
in southwest central Texas
Medical use: Solution of bark and leaves is used to treat
internal bleeding, excessive menstruation, inflammation,
hemorrhoids, and congestion. A solution can be used as an enema
or douche for diarrhea, dysentery, and simple vaginitis, also as
a mouthwash for bleeding gums and inflamed oral tissues.
Dose: simmer 10 min., 1 oz of leaves or bark in 1 pt of water.
1 wineglass 3-4 times daily. Of the tincture 5-20 drops, adjust
for age. Enema 1/2 oz after bloody discharge.
Xylosma, Mexican
Xylossma blepharodes
Location: lower Rio Grande valley near Combes, Cameron
Co. Texas but found mostly in Nuevo Le-n, Veracruz and Chiapas,
Mexico.
Medical use: used as a remedy for tuberculosis
Yaupon, Desert
Schaefferia cuneifolia
Location: western and southwestern Texas. Along the
Rio Grande at La Joya, Hildago County; at Langtry, Val Verde
County; and in Big Bend National Park, Brewster County.
Medical use: Known in Mexico as Capul, the roots are used
as a remedy for venereal disease
Yaupon, Holly
Ilex vomitoria
Location: found in low moist woods mostly in southern
east Texas and near the coast. Occasionally cultivated as
an ornamental.
Medical use: Raw leaves act as a purgative in cerimonies by
the Texas indians.
Culinary use: A smoky flavored caffinated tea can be made by
roasting green leaves in a skillet untill they turn brown and stop
popping and then steeped like an oriental tea. Good flavor and has
one heck of a kick.
WARNING: DO NOT USE LEAVES
IN THEIR GREEN STATE OR EAT THE BERRIES AS THEY WILL CAUSE VOMITING
AND DIARRHEA
Yucca, Carneros Giant
Yucca carnerosana
Location: limestone foothills approaching higher Mountians
in Texas, though it is confined to Brewster County at altitudes
of 2,700-6,300 feet. Also planted as a decoration along highways
in the Trans-Pecos areas
Culinary use: interior of trunks can be eaten . Immature flowers
and fruit can be boiled or roasted.
Yucca, Datil
Yucca baccata
Location: dry plains and mesas at altitudes of 2,000-8,000
feet in Trans-Pecos region
Culinary use: fruit can be eaten raw, dried, or roasted
Yucca, Var.
Yucca var.
Location: several species are found in well drained
areas statewide growing wild or cultivated as an ornament
Flower: December-April
Fruit: mature year round though most plentiful in late summer-fall
Medical use: Leaves are used to jab snake bites to induce
bleeding Seeds have purgative properties
Culinary use: Flowers can be eaten raw, boiled, or pickled.
Raw petals have a crisp lettuce like taste. Fruit and sap is fermented
into an alcoholic drink, baked in ashes, or eaten raw. Heart
of young flowering stalk can be eaten boiled or roasted though
this will kill the young plant. Seeds can be roasted or ground into
meal.
Other use: Roots can be used for soap, for body and clothes.
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