Page 49 - Edible Trees For Tucson

Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.)

Prickly pear cacti have flat, fleshy pads, often with
numerous spines. The fleshy, bright red-purple and
distinctly flavored fruits may be
eaten if care is taken to avoid
glochids on the skin. The juice
is expressed to make drinks,
syrup, jelly or fermented into
alcohol. Tender young pads can be
harvested before spines harden.
The pads are nutritious, and the
muscilage can reduce blood sugar to control adultonset
diabetes. The pads are eaten fireroasted, stir-fried,
chopped, added to soups or salads, and coated lightly
in cornmeal and toasted.
Sonoran Desert oregano

(Lippia palmeri; Lippia graveolens)

Sonoran wild oregano is a small shrub with pungent grey-
green leaves. Fragrant white flowers bloom throughout the
year, but are especially pronounced
after summer rains. Lippia palmeri
is native to the Sonoran Desert of
the southwestern U.S. and northern
Mexico; Lippia graveolens is native to
the Texas and New Mexico south to
Nicaragua. The leaves are widely used
as a culinary herb in Mexico, and had special importance
to Seri Indians as a spice and as a salt substitute.

Wild Grape (Vitis arizonica)

Arizona wild grapes are woody, perennial, deciduous vines.
The many slender vines are branched with weak tendrils
and grow more than 20 feet long. The grape leaves
measure 1 to 5 inches long, with a
similar or slightly larger width. Small
flowers occur in 2 to 4 inch-long
clusters. The tiny, purple grapes are
juicy and thinskinned, and can be
eaten fresh or juiced and fermented
into wine.
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