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Thread: Wild edibles in South Texas

  1. #1
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    Default Wild edibles in South Texas

    There's a few that I know of and probably a lot more that I don't know about, but here goes.

    Agarito - evergreen grows in the drier areas. Produces a small red, yellow or orange berry that has a pleasant tart taste. Makes excellent jelly.

    Wild Perssimons - evergreen smooth bark tree with oval leaves. makes a black marble sized fruit when ripe. Edible but don't eat too many or it may be counter productive.

    pear apples - Prickly pear cactus produces a dark purple fruit. Care must be taken to remove the very fine thorns before eating. Should not be picked int he heat of the day. Old wives say this will cause fever.

    Pricly pear leaves - Noplaitos. The very young leaves of the prickly pear cactus are tender and edible. Normally cooked with some other food (scrambled eggs) they have a distinctive flavor which is an acquired taste.

    Mesquite beans - Some nourishment can be derived from mesquite beans but they are another food which should be used in small amounts. some accounts report natives making a masa from them.

    Muscadine grapes - Depending on the area they are from can range from sweet and juicy to extremely tart and tough.

    Mustang grapes - hardly worth the effort.

    Sotol - the growing core of the sotol (looks like a soft leaf yucca) is crushed to make a masa. The dried flower stem is also a good fire making spindle.

    Yucca - the root can be prepared and eaten like potatoes

    dewberries - grow most places where there is rain but west of I-37 they are not found in any numbers.


    That's all for tonight.

    Alan
    Last edited by Alan R McDaniel Jr; 07-09-2017 at 12:43 AM.


  2. #2
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    Okay.

    Native Pecans - You've got to really like pecans. They are hard as flint but delicious. Wild Turkeys can open them quicker than a pecan sheller.

    Chili petins - The original Pepper. Pea sized and smaller and hotter than Hell. They lose some heat when cooked though. I love them. They are the perfect thing to eat if you don't have much to eat. They will give a feeling of satiation and release LOTS of serotonin.



    There's a bunch of plants and seeds that should never be eaten and some that shouldn't even be handled unless you want to be very sick or worse.

    Alan

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    A list with those "Don't handle" plants (with images) would be greatly appreciated. Is that available somewhere?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pop Alexandra View Post
    A list with those "Don't handle" plants (with images) would be greatly appreciated. Is that available somewhere?
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...orth_of_Mexico
    Can't Means Won't

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    Do you have sable palm trees

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bishop View Post
    Do you have sable palm trees
    Not growing wild.

    Alan

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    There is a beautiful native plant down here called mountain laurel. It is also called Mescal Bean. Sophora secundiflora. It is evergreen with dark green waxy leaves. It produces a beautiful purple flower head that is sickeningly sweet smelling. It makes three or four large red beans to a pod that have a seed coat that is extremely tough. When rubbed on a rock or concrete for a few seconds they get blazing hot and are one of the favorite pastimes of South Texas children in tormenting each other.

    They are extremely poisonous. I used to grow the seedlings and became very ill after handling the seeds that had been soaked in water.

    Alan

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