Paleo Foraging

Ilex vomitoria Aiton

Common names: Yaupon, yaupon holly, cassina

Location in Texas: SE, E, & C TX; very common in Travis Co.

Form: shrub or small tree up to 25 ft tall.

Notes – Early Texas colonists called the tree “té del Indio” / “Indian tea” and “chocolate del Indio“ / “Indian chocolate” (Berlandier 1969:89, Ohlendorf et al. 1980:311,314). The preparation drunk by the Indians was known as “black drink” (Carlson and Jones 1939:532, Crown et al. 2012, Mayhall 1939:115).

ID: possumhaw (Ilex decidua) often occurs in the same habitat but has generally larger leaves that taper toward their base. Possumhaw leaves drop in the winter, compared to the evergreen yaupon. Ilex cassine also has significantly larger leaves.

Food

Leaves – Indians of southeast Texas around 1530 were drinking yaupon tea regularly (Augenbraum and Cabeza de Vaca 2013:120). The leaves were toasted in a pottery bottle (Augenbraum and Cabeza de Vaca 2013:120). Once toasted, the bottle was filled with water and held over the fire “long enough to boil three times” (Augenbraum and Cabeza de Vaca 2013:120). The decoction was poured into a half-gourd bowl (Augenbraum and Cabeza de Vaca 2013:120). When there is a lot of foam in it, it was drunk as hot and fresh as possible (Augenbraum and Cabeza de Vaca 2013:120). The vessel in which the leaves were boiled was always kept covered (Augenbraum and Cabeza de Vaca 2013:120). It could be drunk for three days without food, with each individual drinking about 4.5 gallons per day (Augenbraum and Cabeza de Vaca 2013:120).

The decoction was drunk daily as a beverage by the Asinai (“Tejas”), Caddo, Karankawa, Tawokanis, Tonkawa (Berlandier 1969:89,147, Ohlendorf et al. 1980:311), Atákapa (Dyer 1917:4, Mayhall 1939:115,162), Comanche (Carlson and Jones 1939:522), and other Texas tribes (Berlandier 1969:89,147, Ohlendorf et al. 1980:311). To prepare it, Texas Indians boiled the leaves in water, and used “a bundle of small pieces of wood to make the decoction foam like chocolate” (Ohlendorf et al. 1980:312). “This extract is placed in another vessel or reduced a second time to a liquid state” (Ohlendorf et al. 1980:312). They drank it “after heating and skimming it” (Berlandier 1969:89). It was drunk by medicine men before doctoring, at the first fruits ceremony, and at feasts by the Asinai (Hatcher 1927c:52, 1927d:165,171).

Indians of Cahokia, a proto-urban center of the Mississippi, were drinking yaupon tea around 1050 AD, as evidenced by beaker pottery residue (Crown et al. 2012). So, yaupon leaves were being imported from over 500 km away, possibly from Caddo Indians, since the tree did not occur any closer, nor does it appear to have been cultivated at Cahokia (Crown et al. 2012).

Notes – yaupon leaves have about 40% the caffeine as coffee beans, and about 10% of the theobromine as cocoa beans.

Yaupon leaves have a median 0.56% caffeine by dry weight, compared to 3.4% in common tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves and 1.4% in coffee (Coffea arabica) beans (Edwards and Bennett 2005). Ilex cassine leaves contain 0.12% caffeine.

Yaupon leaves have 0.11% theobromine (Edwards and Bennett 2005), compared to about 1% in cocoa beans. the drink contains caffeine and theobromine in a ratio of about 5:1 (Crown et al. 2012). Theobroma cacao contains about the reverse ratio (Crown et al. 2012).

Ilex vomitoria leaves contain five times the caffeine content as those of Ilex cassine (Edwards and Bennett 2005). Ilex cassine leaves contain two times the theobromine content as those of Ilex vomitoria (Edwards and Bennett 2005).

Medicine

Leaves – the decoction was drunk as a panacea by Tonkawa Indians (Ohlendorf et al. 1980:311). The Tonkawa used the decoction as an emmenagogue and to improve stomach function and appetite (Ohlendorf et al. 1980:311-12). The early Texans and Texas Indians used it as a powerful emmenagogue (Berlandier 1969:89).

Notes

Ilex vomitoria was sometimes mistaken for Ilex cassine in early ethnographic accounts. Ilex vomitoria and I. cassine have a history of being classified as the same species in the scientific literature (Edwards and Bennett 2005). The latter is common in Florida and its nearby coasts, whereas the I. vomitoria has a wider range in the southeast. Ilex vomitoria leaves contain five times the caffeine content as those of Ilex cassine (Edwards and Bennett 2005). Ilex cassine leaves contain two times the theobromine content as those of Ilex vomitoria (Edwards and Bennett 2005). This chemical profile, pharmacological effects, and co-occuring range of these two species suggest that ethnographic accounts attributing the “black drink” common among southeastern Indians to deriving from Ilex cassine are mistaken, and that at least generally, Ilex vomitoria was the principle or only species used for this beverage (Edwards and Bennett 2005).

Experimentation

I drink this tea almost daily. I make a strong decoction, boiling about 1/8 to 1/4 of a cup or more of dried crushed leaves into a pint of water. This is a preparation similar in properties to yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis). Sometimes, I drink several of these pints quickly for a very noticeable and desirable effect.

I gather the leaves by gripping a branch and sliding my fingers downward to strip off the leaves. I parch them in an oven at about 300 degrees until they gain a brown color. I crush them between my hands.

Sometimes, I prepare a larger pot with the same ration of leaves to water as above. Once it reaches a boil, I skim off the foam and transfer that into a cup. That drunk is like a shot of espresso, but with the effects comparable to if one could make espresso from yerba mate or black tea (Camillia sinensis) combined with cacao (Theobroma cacao).

A council of state and A fortified village; Construction of a native Floridian town illustration from Grand voyages (1596) by Theodor de Bry (1528-1598). Original from The New York Public Library. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.

The above drawing is from reports of Ponce De Leon’s expedition to Florida, depicting the “black drink” gathering common among southeastern Indians.

Note that the use of large shells from which to drink the tea was common. However, the shells depicted above show a pacific nautilus instead of the large Florida whelk shells that were actually used.

A decoction of yaupon leaves mixed half and half with redbud (Cercis canadensis) flower sun tea and honey added. Delicious.