Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

rate this answer

Saturday - September 17, 2011
From: Waynesboro, VA
Region: Select Region
Topic: Edible Plants, Poisonous Plants, Trees
Title: Could hickory leaves be used as seasoning from Waynesboro VA
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I have a hickory tree. If I pull a leaf off and rip it then smell, there is a strong wonderful scent of hickory much like when I rip a mint leaf there is a strong smell of mint. So my question is, can I use the leaves from the hickory tree as a seasoning agent in a similar way as I would use mint leaves? I've searched everywhere and couldn't find anything about the use of the hickory leaves. I can't imagine, with as strong as they smell, that they wouldn't work as a seasoning but I just don't know about the safety of using them, especially since I couldn't find anything online about people using the leaves, it makes me wonder if it is safe. Thanks!ANSWER:
There are 7 hickories native to Virginia. We chose Carya ovata (Shagbark hickory) as our example. Our Native Plant Database has no indication that members of the genus Carya are poisonous. Here are a few databases of poisonous plants you could look at; it is always better to search on the scientific name (Carya ovata). Ordinarily, you could assume that if it did not appear in a few databases, it will probably not appear in any, but if you are going to feed this to your family, perhaps it would do well to be more cautious. It occurs to us that perhaps the reason you see no recipes for cooking with hickory leaves is that they are not very good. If you feel comfortable that they are not poisonous you might cook one and eat it yourself; better get a bad taste in your mouth than serve it to guests. I always think of vanilla-smells like heaven and tastes terrible.
From a previous Mr. Smarty Plants answer:
"Whenever Mr. Smarty Plants gets questions about toxic plants, he checks out these databases to look for answers.
The Merck Veterinary Manual
ASPCA
University of Arkansas
University of Illinois (common names only)
Web site about Dobermans
Toxic Plants of Texas
Poisonous Plants of North Carolina
Cornell University Plants Poisonous to Livestock
University of Pennsylvania Poisonous Plants
Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System
More Trees Questions
Growing non-native grapefruit from seeds from Austin
April 30, 2013 - Can you grow ruby red grapefruit trees from seeds?
view the full question and answer
Tiny holes oozing sap from Austin
August 22, 2012 - My ash tree becomes loaded with butterflies on the trunk. At closer inspection, I see they are drinking sap which is coming from small holes in the trunk. Are the butterflies creating the holes? I ...
view the full question and answer
Transplanting live oaks in summer
July 17, 2008 - I have a need to transplant a live oak tree on a home building site. The need is now, the house is almost completely built out and the owners did not prep the site by moving trees or prepping them to ...
view the full question and answer
Distance for Escarpment oak to house from Lewisville TX
August 22, 2010 - I am planting an Escarpment Live Oak about 15' from my house. Thats as far away as I can plant it. Will this be a safe distance? How large will it be in 20 years?
view the full question and answer
Disagreement with HOA on raised beds placed beneath mature oak from Tequesta FL
April 05, 2014 - I have mature 30 year old oak trees on my property and I put a raised bed under each with very good soil and I used pavers for retaining the soil about about 1.5 ft high. I planted a perennial begonia...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |