Wasting away in Agaritaville

If  you happen upon a Mahonia trifoliolata out in the south Texas landscape, you would be wise to give it a wide berth. With its clustered three-prong leaves it resembles a holly, but that’s where the similarity ends—its gray-green leaves are stiff and as sharp as razor blades. In spite of its armor, this plant is a treasure. The Mahonia trifoliolata, common name agarita or wild currant,  is a carefree indigenous shrub common not only in central Texas but in the desert areas of Arizona and Nevada. It’s a tough plant and extremely drought-tolerant. It can easily survive in full sun, but actually prefers light shade. It can take temperatures down to the teens and grows to a height of six feet and can become as wide as it is tall.

The agarita’s yellow flowers in late winter are followed by delicious tart red berries in April and May. Because its leaves are painfully sharp, harvesting the berries is tricky. The easiest method of collecting the fruit is to spread a sheet or tarp on the ground around the plant and striking it with a large stick. The berries will fall on the sheet. They can be eaten as is or made into jams, jellies, pies and cobblers, or dried and used as a refreshing tea. Agarita berries can also be used as an ingredient in margaritas and fermented into a delicious wine.