-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
ATTN: Doc Canada
- Thread starter dougo83
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2008
- Messages
- 4,834
Those are leaves and good for TP
j/k - I can't wait to find out what they actually are and used for.
That was all I came up with...
myright
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2008
- Messages
- 5,178
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
- 7,021
Geez Doug, I'd like to help you out, but I have no idea what grows in Texas, beside Talfuchres that is. 
Doc
Doc
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2008
- Messages
- 4,834
Geez Doug, I'd like to help you out, but I have no idea what grows in Texas, beside Talfuchres that is.
Doc
I am a botanical failure...I should know this stuff. I was just hoping you had some idea of what I was looking at...ah well...now to go to my botany prof who already probably told me what they are
My first thought was bay leaves, but now that I look at it again I think it's wax-leaf ligustrum. It's everywhere around here (central TX), and is an ornamental plant that's gone invasive. It's good for nothing. I try to kill the stuff whenever possible, and definitely use native plants for landscaping the properties.
Something else that's pretty easy to find is prickly ash. It's a native small tree/large shrub with rose like thorns covering the branches. The leaves smell very minty when picked. They taste minty fresh when you chew them, but will quickly numb your mouth. I've heard they were regularly used for tooth and gum pain by the Native Americans, and it would work well for that.
Whenever someone with kids visits for the first time, I always pull the kid aside and show him the prickly ash tree and tell him the Indians used to chew the leaves like gum. "Here", I'll say, and pick a couple of leaves and hand it to them, "chew them". They smell minty and the Indian chewing gum angle is exciting, so the kid will always chew them. At first, they're all "Hey, this is good! Wow!", then their mouth and tongue goes numb and they'll realize they've been had when I start laughing. At first, they'll be mad that they were tricked, then I hand them a couple of more leaves and tell them to go tell their dad the story and chew the leaves. They'll get a conspiratorial glint in their eyes and trot off all excited...........and their dad's will usually fall for it too. It's silly fun.
Something else that's pretty easy to find is prickly ash. It's a native small tree/large shrub with rose like thorns covering the branches. The leaves smell very minty when picked. They taste minty fresh when you chew them, but will quickly numb your mouth. I've heard they were regularly used for tooth and gum pain by the Native Americans, and it would work well for that.
Whenever someone with kids visits for the first time, I always pull the kid aside and show him the prickly ash tree and tell him the Indians used to chew the leaves like gum. "Here", I'll say, and pick a couple of leaves and hand it to them, "chew them". They smell minty and the Indian chewing gum angle is exciting, so the kid will always chew them. At first, they're all "Hey, this is good! Wow!", then their mouth and tongue goes numb and they'll realize they've been had when I start laughing. At first, they'll be mad that they were tricked, then I hand them a couple of more leaves and tell them to go tell their dad the story and chew the leaves. They'll get a conspiratorial glint in their eyes and trot off all excited...........and their dad's will usually fall for it too. It's silly fun.