Yaupon Tree

My name is Cary Russell. I have a Masters Degree in Landscape Ecology, and we're going to take a minute, just to speak a little bit about forest ecology, so now we've walked from the ridge ,down into the under story of the forest, and one of the most common under story species, that you'll find in this area, is Yaupon. The scientific name of which, is Ilex Vomitoria. Vomitoria, the Latin kind of comes from the belief that by indigenous native peoples, that this was used basically, to induce vomiting, for various health reasons. The red berries on it are not edible by people, so I certainly do not recommend anyone eating these. However, one of the reasons why this shrub is prolific as it is, is because the birds love to eat them, and then wherever the birds poop, there goes the new seed into the ground. This is an evergreen species. It's in the holly family ,which is Ilex, is the genus for holly. These are evergreen, and when you feel them, they feel slightly leathery, and what that is, is what they call a, it's a waxy cuticle or covering, over the leaf, that conserves water inside the leaf, and the rest of the plant, and enables it to survive throughout the winter, without going into dormancy, so all times of year, this will be green, evergreen species, so this is Yaupon, Ilex Vomitoria.