Big Timber News

Question by Thorbjorn Y: Does anyone use yaupon holly leaves for making tea?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_drink

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_vomitoria

http://www.eattheweeds.com/www.EatTheWeeds.Com/EatTheWeeds.com/Entries/1944/1/17_Hollies:_Gallberry._Dahoon_&_Ilex_Vomitoria_Ad_Nauseam.html

Previously, I asked how to grow a small yaupon tree myself. No one has responded so far:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090522182028AAp3lSb&r=w

Best answer:

Answer by j.srikant
YouTube – Yaupon Holly Tea

2 min 12 sec – 10 Dec 2007 –

I read that the tea made from Yaupon Holly has 20 times more caffeine than coffee. … in my yard and could clip them back and save the leaves and …
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOU8sneLOmk –

Wilderness foods – Yaupon Holly – Survivalist Forum9 posts – 8 authors – Last post: 20 Apr 2008
The leaves can be dried and boiled into a tea – but, …. Yapon holly (Ilex vomitoria) is good for making tea (there are two ways and I …
www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=4398 – 69k – Cached – Similar pages -

pencil and leaf: Leaf of the day: 50 (ish) Yaupon Holly LeavesYaupon Holly is a very nice tree. It is possible to brew the black tea, without too many horrible side effects, I am told. I have chewed a few leaves with …
pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/2009/03/leaf-of-day-50-yaupon-leaves.html – 203k – Cached – Similar pages -

[PDF] Variation of caffeine and related alkaloids in Ilex vomitoria Ait …File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – View as HTML
Ilex vomitoria (yaupon holly) is a suitable model for this investigation for three … making it one of over sixty higher plants that produce purine alkaloids (6) … cassina from the young leaves and shoots of I. vomitoria. The tea was …
www.econbot.org/_about_/06_awards/awards_morton/pdfs/a_edwards.pdf – Similar pages -

Ilex vomitoriaAppalachian Holly [H], Yaupon [B,P,E], Yaupon Holly [H], … The tea is stimulating and intoxicating[161]. The leaves are first steeped in cold …. joining Friends of Plants For A Future or making a donation to the project with PayPal …
www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Ilex+vomitoria – 16k – Cached – Similar pages -

What do you think? Answer below!

Question by Thorbjorn Y: Where can I get a yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) sapling?
Most of the specimens I see in garden centres are small-leaf and dwarf cultivars. I’m more interested in a wild type, particularly one which will do well in conditions a little colder than in the plant’s realized niche. I’m just barely out of the range of this species. I want the plant so that I can roast the leaves and make a tea from it. Supposedly, the male plants have more caffeine than the females. At least that’s the case with a relative of yaupon, Ilex paraguariensis… otherwise known as yerba mate (shyerba matay).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_vomitoria

See this website for pictures.

http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/ilvo.htm

If you’re familiar with yerba mate (which grows in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil), it looks very similar. It prefers coastal woodlands, but will grow farther from inland if planted.

Best answer:

Answer by Rustskipper
Hey Thorbjorn,

You are more familiar with your requirements and the plant itself than me, so I will spare the research available. Here is one mail order nursery that has some variants of the yaupon holly. Lowes has a Dwarf variety also.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!