� Edible plant note: Dr. Geoffrey Stanford, Director Emeritus of the Dallas Nature Center suggests that the Indians in Texas might have eaten the sweet but poisonous nuts of Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa). The poison they contain, hydrogen cyanide, is soluble in water. They could have ground the nuts up and let them soak in a fast moving stream--the same way they removed tannic acid from acorns.

� Edible plant note: Rough-leaf Dogwood (Cornus drummondii) The round, white fruit bunched in small corymbs is abundant and ripe now. One species of Cornus is listed as edible (Cornus canadensis) but only grows up North. Our Rough-leaf Dogwood is of unknown toxicity. A literature check and a call to the Poison Control Center of North Texas turned up no prior reports of ill effects from eating the fruit. Experimentation revealed that the flesh is bitter but not terrible. I ate 10, days later I ate 25, then 50, then 75 at once. No discernible ill effects. Drying did little to improve the flavor. RM

� Edible plant note: Chittamwood (Bumelia lanuginosa) Last year the Bumelia trees produced a bumper crop. According to Benny Simpson, noted Texas botanist, Bumelia fruits heavily only once in every 5-10 years, and then every tree across the state has a bumper crop. Reports of the edibility of the fruit vary widely: Delena Tull recommends them highly, saying they taste like raisins when dried and offering a jelly recipe for them. Robert vines reports dizziness and stomach disturbances. Dr. Stanford said the jelly gave him a bad case of diarrhea and recommends changing the name to ‘shittamwood’.

I had opportunity last year to perform some experiments of my own. The fresh, purplish-black drupes were very succulent and sweet, somewhat grape-like in flavor. Over a period of days I increased the dosage, eventually to 100 fresh fruit (~½ cup). Although not dramatic enough to halt the experiment, after eating about 30 or so my tongue began to sting. Irritation persisted for ~ 20 minutes after finishing the fruit--aggravating but not fatal. The tongue irritation subsided but flared up again when anything else was eaten continuing through the evening but was completely gone by bedtime. No other bad effects were noted. RM

Natural History of North Central Texas Index
 

Royce & LuCretia Milam Copyright © September 1995 Wild Vision. All rights reserved.