Southern Boys: Yaupon tea?
 

Any of you Southerners heard of Yaupon tea? It's brewed from the leaves of the Yaupon holly tree/bush, which is the only Native American plant containing caffeine. The range appears to be all of the coastal areas of the South. It is supposedly widespread and is used as a decorative shrub.

Apparently it was brewed locally during hard times as a coffee substitute and still has a following. Rumor has it it is sold at some roadside stands. Anyone seen it being sold? I'm looking to purchase a goodly passel (see what I did there?)

Thanks. I've seen these sellers. Their prices are ridiculous. Their market is new age hipsters and desperate cancer patients. I hear the roadside stands sell half pound and pound sacks for 5-10 bucks.

This is for the Old Guys at the Rez. They're not rich. They make "black water" out of it--which is not black at all but a green tea--and they mix it in with red dogwood and red willow bark in their kinnikinnick when they can get it. Back in the day they used to trade native copper for it but now they only get it when someone is driving back from a week at the beach. :)

http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalgram...rticle940.html

Also I highly recommend
Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Easter and Central North America, 3rd edition

Very interesting. We were always taught that yaupon was an emetic. Gonna have to look into this tea.

It is at heavy dosages. Look at the scientific name.

Reminds me of yerba mate from South America.

mug, any chance you could get seedlings and greenhouse them?

TR

I have lived my entire life ( military service excluded) within sight of water in the coastal South, literally. I have never heard of it. This is due to my inability to tell the difference between kudzu and Johnson grass. However, I will check with my county agent and get back with y'all: If its greenhouse growable, etc. It shouldn't be a big trick to get some and send it North.

Most if not all the homes in my neighborhood have Yaupon holly (Ilex Vomitoria) in their landscaping. I have somewhere around 30 of them, all males! https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...&hsimp=yhs-001

Thanks for the field guide recommendation doctom, I'll definitely look into it.

It sounds like I was given bad gouge...roadside vendors must not exist or are rare it seems. It sounded credible, certainly no weirder than boiled goober and fried gizzard stands.

Yep greenhousing it would be an option but not worth the effort. I was trying to do a favor for the Old Guys on the rez. They make "black water" tea out of yaupon as a medicine and put it in their kinnikinnick (foul stuff).

Goes to show how sophisticated the Indian trade networks were back in the day. The Anishinaabe would trade raw copper for this stuff and got it regularly enough that it's still remembered.

Some parts of their traditional medicine seem to place great store in rare and difficult to obtain ingredients. The OGs sort of admit that some things they give patients don't have a direct physiological effect but it makes no difference. The effort expended in getting the ingredient gets transferred to the patient as "good stuff."

Anyhoo, thanks for the responses.

mug:

Been in and around NC most of my life, and I do not recall ever seeing this for sale. Unlike ginseng.

Since you brought it up, I will keep my eyes open, but here in NC, it looks to be a very specific coastal and Outer Banks plant. The next time we see our nursery guy, I will ask him if it will grow here.

Nothing wrong with boiled goobers, and BTW, how much copper do they have?:D

Looks like WCH is your source. Next time he trims hedges, all he has to do is box it up and send it your way.

TR

There should be plenty of new growth (I hear that's the best for tea) in the spring. I would be happy to send a box full for tribe, just let me know where to ship it.

I love it when a plan comes together!

TR

Thanks WCH!

It's all over Camp Macall!! It grows all the way up into Central Texas!!

Makes sense. Yerba Mate comes from a species of holly.