Edible Fruits and Berries

Native fruits and berries are an important food source for wildlife.

Among the key components of any healthy, natural habitat are the native plants that provide sustenance for wildlife.  In central Texas, there are several species that provide abundant fruits and berries during the warmer months, and many are edible for humans as well as wildlife.

Common in brushy areas, open woodlands, and stony hillsides, the Texas Persimmon (Diospyros texana) is a small tree (8-12 feet) that is moderately deer resistant.  Flowering in March/April, this tree has little green leaves and attractive smooth pale reddish-gray bark that peels off to reveal a whiter trunk.  The female trees bear 1-inch fruits that turn from green to black as they ripen in late July to September.  Texas or Littleleaf Mulberry (Morus microphylla), also a large shrub or small tree, produces an edible fruit that is small, fleshy, and berry-like.  It varies from red to black and typically ripens in May, although in ideal conditions this tree is known to produce a large quantity of fruits over a longer period of time, providing much needed food for migrating and nesting birds.

Texas Persimmon Fruit

Texas or Littleleaf Mulberry Fruit

Our native Escarpment Black Cherry (Prunus serotina var. eximia) is a fast-growing, straight-trunked tree with long clusters of white flowers in April/May, followed by small purple-black cherries ripening in late July through October. Although impractical for fresh eating, the cherries are used in juices and wines, and the bark was once used in making cough syrup.  This deciduous tree is also unique in that it offers stunning yellow fall color.  Another attractive tree is the Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana), whose dense white flowers appear before the leaves in early spring, and offer a very sweet, heady scent attractive to pollinators. The plums, which ripen from July to September, are nearly as ornamental as the flowers, as their color varies widely from gold to crimson to purple-black.

Escarpment Black Cherries

Mexican Plum

Agarita (Berberis trifoliata), a common native barberry, is a medium evergreen shrub whose gray-green holly-like leaflets are joined by yellow flowers in February/March and small red fruit in May through July.  The leaflets have sharp points at the ends, so care must be taken to harvest the fruit (if you can get them before the mockingbirds do), which makes an excellent jelly. Another sprawling shrub with thorny, woody stems is Southern Dewberry (Rubus riograndis) or Zarzamora.  A bramble common to sunny meadows and open fields, its white flowers bloom in March/April, followed by berries that resemble blackberries but have more of a sweet/tart flavor.  Usually found climbing along fencerows and high over other plants in woodland edges and stream sides is the Mustang Grape (Vitis mustangensis).  Best used for wines and jellies, these vines can grow up to 40 feet long, and produce small clusters of acidic berries that ripen in late July through September.    

Agarita Fruit

Mustang Grapes

Take a little time this fall planting season to seek out and add some of these native fruit and berry producing plants to your landscape.  Not only will you be providing food for several species of birds and mammals next summer, but you’ll have the chance to savor a natural and healthy treat for yourself, too. 

Marvelous Mahonias

Agarita showing its simple trifoliate leaflets.

One of the constant debates in the botany world is whether or not the genus Mahonia should stand alone or be included in the genus Berberis.  This discussion is based on the fact that several species in both genera are able to hybridize, and when viewed as a whole, no consistent separation exists except for simple versus compound leaves.  Taxonomy debate aside, the two most marvelous Mahonias in Texas are the well-known Agarita (Mahonia trifoliata) and the lesser-known Texas Barberry (Mahonia swaseyi).

Agarita with red berries.

Also called Agarito, Algerita, Laredo Mahonia, Laredo Oregon-grape, Trifoliate Barberry, and Texas Wild Currant, Agarita is a 3 to 8 foot evergreen, thicket-forming shrub with gray-green to blue-gray simple leaves composed of 3 leaflets.  Holly-like, each lobe of the leaflets ends in a sharp spine, and the woody stems are bright yellow inside.  Small yellow flowers appear in February and March, followed by red, berry-like fruits from May to July. Agarita grows throughout most of South-Central and West Texas, and prefers hills, rocky slopes, and open woods that have well-drained but rocky, limestone soils.  Songbirds and small mammals will eat the fruits, and use the prickly plant for cover.  In West Texas Agarita is used as a larval host plant for the Chinati Sheepmoth, one of our native wild silk moths.

’Texas Barberry has a more compound leaf structure.

Texas Barberry, also known as Texas Oregon-grape, is a 3 to 5 foot evergreen shrub with 3 inch long compound leaves composed of 2 to 4 leaflet pairs and one terminal leaflet.  The leaflet edges have spiny teeth and prominent veins on their lower surface.  From February to April yellow flowers appear, producing small orange-red fruits in early summer.  In addition to its leaf arrangement, Texas Barberry differs from Agarita in terms of range.  While it occurs in the Edwards Plateau and in one location in the Texas Panhandle, it is endemic to the Hill Country region, where it grows in full sun to light shade on ridges with rocky, limestone soil.  Texas Barberry is also rare and much less common than Agarita, and its foliage turns reddish-purple in the fall.   

While both of these species of plants are often grown for their spiny evergreen foliage and yellow flowers in early spring, their fruits are edible for humans (as well as wildlife) and are rich in vitamin C, and have been used to make jellies, pies, cobblers, and wines.  While edible, the fruits are highly acidic and should not be eaten raw in large quantities.  Additionally, the wood of these species has been used as a light yellow dye for wool.  

Whether you are looking for a barrier plant, wildlife cover, early bloomer, edible fruits, or just something evergreen that requires little care, look no further than our native, marvelous Mahonias!