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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 2. 2023
POND
Plants of the Southeast
"Yaupon," "Yaupon holly," Ilex vomitoria
By John Nelson
University of
South Carolina
Lots of people in the
Southeast - and beyond -
grow this plant as a shrub or
hedge without really know
ing its identity.
Yaupon, or Yaupon Holly
as it’s often called, is a native
evergreen, and it is widely
cultivated as a popular yard
plant, especially in the
South; there are several pop
ular horticultural forms, var
ious of which are excellent
for use in topiary. In my
town (South Carolina) I’ve
seen a tall variety with weep
ing branches. Some of
these forms resemble the
common boxwood, with its
slow growth and tiny leaves,
but boxwood is completely
unrelated to Yaupon. (All
boxwoods have their leaves
occurring in pairs. Our plant
has leaves alternating singly
on the stems. Go ahead, take
a look.)
Yaupon grows naturally
from Virginia to eastern
Texas. In its natural habitat,
it can be a small tree, or per
haps more commonly either
a slender or broadly-
branched shrub. On larger
plants the bark is attractive,
smooth and grey. The plants
are evergreen, bearing small,
leathery leaves, which snap
if bent end to end. The mar
gins of the leaves are shal
lowly scalloped; this sort of
leaf margin is said to be "cre-
nate."
The flowers are small and
white, and not particularly
showy, but they are fragrant,
and bees love them. The fe
male plants produce beauti
fully conspicuous red, and
quite lustrous as well. (Some
varieties have yellow fruits.)
I hope that you will re
member from botany class
that when you have a tree
species that has separate
‘■‘male” and ‘'‘female” indi
viduals, the term for such a
species is dioecious. (The
term monoecious, which you
also hear sometimes, is used
for a species whose separate
Photo/Linda Lee
Yaupon leaves have an interesting history in America as a tea, first drunk by the Native
Americans and later by colonists seeking to evade the tea tax on British sold teas.
But beware, the plant’s scientific name contains vomitoria for a reason.
male and female flowers are
found on the SAME individ
ual. . .such as com.) But back
to our weekly shrub.
In addition to being an
important component of our
maritime forests (and other
coastal ecosystems) as well
as a very pleasing landscape
plant, this native has had an
additional interesting associ
ation with humans: a consid
erable amount of caffeine is
available from the dried
leaves. In fact, there is a no
tion that the American
colonists developed a taste
for this tea, locally available
after all, and which would
have been a good back-door
way of avoiding the British
tax on “real" tea.
Native Americans appar
ently used brews of the
leaves as a beverage. Tradi
tional and perhaps somewhat
speculative histories indi
cate, as well, that very strong
versions (or perhaps very
large doses) of these brews
were sometimes used in cer
emonial events as a way of
purging the system through
vomiting. (The scientific
name alludes to this tradi
tion.) Otherwise, the plant
actually became rather im
portant through much of the
South, at least into the early
1800's, and then again during
the Civil War, as an accept
able tea, properly diluted, of
course.
It is sometimes still
served today...I’ll probably
stick with Earl Grey.
[You might want to read
more about it in “Black
Drink: a Native American
Tea”, by Charles Hudson,
UGA press, 1984.]
©JohnNelson2022
[John Nelson is the re
tired curator of the A. C.
Moore Herbarium at the
University of South Car
olina., Columbia SC 29208.
As a public service, the
Herbarium offers free plant
identifications. For more in
formation, visit www. herbar
ium. org.J
LIVIMG VORD
HOSTED BY LIVING WORD CHURCH
Active
Shooter/Security
Workshop
SATURDAY
2-4 PM
1 FEBRUARY4, 2023
TRAINING BY MEMBERS OF THE
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REGISTER ON CHURCH WEBSITE
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Knights of Columbus • Georgia Mountains Hospice • Rotary Club of Jasper
Gjeorgia ‘Mountains ‘Hospice, Hhe (Effijay andJasper Councifs
of the (Knights of Cofumhus and the (Rotary Cfuh of Jasper
invite you toy anticipate in the
i8thflnnuaC
2023 ‘Marcfi (fras in the Mountains
U< A Cjafa Charily {Event CeCehrating Life *
Hhis year’s dinner and dance wid trufy he a spectacufar event
with great music, a sifent auction and the
annuaf coronation of the
2023 (King and Queen &f Honor Court.
We are offering a discountedprice for earfy ticket safes, so re
serve your tahfe today.
Pickens County Queen
Nominee
Michelle Tidwell
Saturday, February 18, 2023
6:30pm - 11:00pm
Appalachian Campus of Chattahoochee
Technical College
You may vote at any time
up until the day of the event by
• Mailing votes to Georgia Mountains Hospice,
70 Caring Way, Jasper, GA 30143
• Going to the website -
https://mardigrasinthemountains.org
• Scan QR code
• or call Georgia Mountains Hospice office at
706-253-4100 or 800-692-7199.
For questions concerning the event contact
Gina Pendley at numbers above
or Gpendley200@ellijay.c0m
Pickens County King
Nominee
Matt Chastain
Scan QR
Code to vote
for Queen
December 1st - February 5th $75.00
(December 1st - February 5th ) purchase table of ten for $70.00 ($700.00 total)
February 6th - February 12th $80.00
(February 6th - February 12th ) purchase table of ten for $75.00 ($750.00 total)
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(< Laissez Ces Sons temps roufer”